Rossotti Ranch: Straddling Marin & Sonoma Counties to produce food for the community

Julie Evans-Rossotti, at Rossotti Ranch, is a fourth-generation farmer, and her husband Tony, from the Corda clan, is fifth generation. That makes a combined nine generations. Julie was raised on the Point Reyes Seashore Historical H Ranch, feeding, managing, and chasing cows from her parents’ cattle operation. “I grew up as a rancher. My whole life has been growing food for people,” Julie says. Recently married, Julie and her husband found a ranch straddling the Marin-Sonoma county line overlooking Bloomfield Valley. They purchased it with savings, and so begins their own farming and ranching operation. Julie raises Boer goats, naturally raised and fed only on pasture. She takes pride in the health and quality of her animals, and markets them locally to restaurants and discerning customers. Long a favorite with Latino and Asian communities, goat is gaining popularity with San Francisco restaurants and chefs as they discover its flavor. The couple are finding that they have discovered a profitable and growing niche.

Already Julie and Tony are planning to add an educational component to their operation by offering a series of rustic ranch dinners, which will feature local fare and also a true-to-life tour of Rossotti Ranch, showing guests how things are done behind the scenes on a working ranch. “I have to stay in farming; it’s my whole life,” explains Julie. This is the kind of enthusiasm that makes for innovation and discovery. Julie plans to add honey to the farm product line and is open to more diversification.

All of this activity is the result of Julie and Tony’s passion for the land and farming. “This ranch is really about who we are and what we do. I have been producing food for my community my whole life. That’s how I look at it - it’s not just ranching, it’s all about us producing the best food for our local community to enjoy.”