Tucked away in the valleys of Dayton, a multi-generational ranch and farm has been quietly producing organic and sustainable agriculture for decades to the local community.
Holley Family Farms has been owned and operated since 1970, and bases their practices on the 19th century farming traditions of Dayton Valley, “where Italian immigrants produced vegetables and meat for the thousands of residents of the Virginia City Comstock,” according to the Holly Family Farms blog.
Cecil Holley first moved to Dayton Valley in 1970 where he and his son Bill developed a reputation for raising quality beef cattle and hay. Now, Cecil’s grandson Rob has taken up to the mantle and together with wife Loni and their three children, continue to raise “grass-fed and finished” beef and lamb, as well as soy and GMO-free pork alongside USDA organic vegetables.
This year, the Holleys are celebrating their 10th year producing USDA organic vegetables, and ten years of selling them at the Carson Farmers Market.
“The Carson Market is special to our entire family,” said Rob. “Many of the vendors and customers have become dear friends, and having grown up in Carson City, we look forward to frequent visits with teachers, neighbors, classmates, teammates and others – some going back over 40 years!”
Rob and Loni recently moved away from Rob’s grandfather’s property after he passed, and have now set up shop on a ten acre farm in the wide desert of Dayton, where they endeavor to provide certified organic produce to the community, as well as ethically grown meat.
Currently, the Holleys have sheep and cattle grazing in three valleys, though they still have a few livestock animals on the property. For example, a group of lambs Rob calls “bummer lambs” bleat whenever you pass by, asking for treats.
They’re called bummer lambs, Rob says, because for whatever reason they needed extra attention. Some were rejected by their mothers, others refused to thrive without hands-on attention. Instead of putting them down, the Holleys bottle fed them until they were old enough to eat on their own.
The valleys were built on ranching, from Dayton to Douglas, but many have abandoned the old ways and ranching has become diminished throughout our area. However, the Holleys are keeping the traditions alive.
“If anybody goes back far enough in their ancestry, you’ll find a horse culture,” said Rob. “Either that or you walked. My family has always maintained their love of horses wherever they were in the U.S. An extension of that is ranching and cowboys.”
Hand in hand with that is farming, said Rob. The men in his family have always been gardeners, he said, but they decided to try and make their hobby into a commercial practice, and are now celebrating a decade of producing fresh, organic produce to the community.
“It’s been a lot of generations since my family has done commercial farming,” said Rob. “But the practices are important.”
While many local farmers raise their crops and livestock to organic standards, many decide to forgo the organic certification. However, the Holleys choose to undergo the rigorous testing for the sake of their customers.
“It gives customers confidence to know we’re certified,” said Rob. “It helps educate us as well. There’s a fine line between good practices and practices that would be considered organic, and a lot of farmers aren’t aware of those distinctions.”
For example, in order to be considered organic, it’s more than just not using chemicals. Everything, down to the straw used for mulching, must have been grown organic as well so that there’s no way it could leech anything into the soil or the plants.
But this, Rob says, is more than just a marketing ploy, it’s an important aspect of taking care of the environment.
“It’s better for everyone involved,” said Rob. “It’s better for the soil, better for the plants, better for the wildlife that lives on your farm.”
Within the high tunnels on the farm, among the growing leafy greens, is an empty bed that has recently been harvested. Rob points to a couple holes in the dark dirt, oval in shape and smaller than his fist.
“That’s where the toads live,” he said. He scratches the dirt to try and get them to poke their heads up, but with no luck.
“You want to have healthy wildlife that are able to live on your farm,” said Rob. “When you spray chemicals like Round Up, you’re damaging an entire ecosystem. So many things are greatly diminished when traditional organic practices aren’t used.”
In the high tunnels there is an array of leafy greens including spinach, lettuce, chard, and more, with tomato plants shooting up from between.
Their goal this summer for the Carson Farmer’s Market, said Rob, is to have leafy greens all throughout the summer, and not only in the colder seasons when lettuce grows naturally.
In addition to selling at the market, they also have an online farm store where people can come and make pick ups, or receive curb side delivery in Carson City.
They’ve also been supplying the Great Basin Co-op in Reno with their organic produce for years, and on Friday, they dropped off hundreds of seedlings to the annual Seedling Sale at the Co-Op.
This year, said Loni, they sold significantly more seedlings than they have before, even with the changes to the sale in that it was moved online.
This, Rob guesses, is due to the fact that people are realizing how food insecure we are in the wake of COVID-19.
“It’s so important to be diversified,” said Rob. “People are looking for local products, and they’ve realized how fragile the food supply is, and are seeing all of the food insecurity issues. Even if it’s a temporary break in the supply, people’s need for food is not temporary. Not getting food for even a week is not good for anybody.”
This, Rob said, illustrates why it’s important for people to provide their own food, or have local sources of food that are safe, healthy and available.
You can learn more about the Holleys and their organic farm by visiting https://www.holleyfamilyfarms.com/ and you can purchase directly from their store by visiting https://shop.holleyfamilyfarms.com/
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