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Farming for the Future

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by Shannon Trace

“I don’t think I’m the best farmer in Humboldt County, I’m just the most politically active.” John LaBoyteaux, owner of Eel Canyon Farm, can easily name a half-dozen other local farmers whose work he deeply respects. They are familiar names to anyone who frequents the Humboldt County farmers markets, and LaBoyteaux is not shy about lauding their efforts.

In turn, LaBoyteaux can name a half-dozen organizations on whose board of directors he has served – including CAFF. As a farmer-advocate, his involvement in local, statewide, and national agricultural issues have earned him the respect of many of his colleagues over the years. I caught up with LaBoyteaux in between errands in town to learn more about his efforts, both in the field and in our northern California community.

From Adventure to Agriculture

Once a river guide, LaBoyteaux moved to southern Humboldt County in 1980 and traded the paddle for the plough. At that time, he felt it was time to settle into a place and make a deeper contribution to society. Having spent over a decade chasing rapids and leading rafting trips, he was attracted to the “Six Rivers” region of California’s north coast. There, he began organic farming, first in Shively, and then at Camp Grant where he farms today.

“But farming doesn’t allow much whitewater,” he reflects. “I still get on the river every chance I get – day trips here and there, at most a quick overnight.”

Luckily, moving water flows close by. Eel Canyon Farm is named for the Eel River, on whose floodplain LaBoyteaux farms. The Eel cuts a dramatic canyon through the forested coast range, offering a great place to float – or to farm.

River Soils Make Fine Melons

LaBoyteaux owns 25 acres and usually leases 25 more for the growing season, farming 40-50 acres each year. With the help of about six regular seasonal employees and a year-round crew leader, he grows everything from melons to hay in order to meet the needs of the farmers market, local dairies, and even regional buyers.

Melons – particularly cantelope – are the biggest “cash crop” of Eel Canyon Farm. Late-season organic melons fill a niche that even the “conventional” farms can’t undersell during the peak production time. Within a three- to four-week window, LaBoyteaux can meet or beat the imported price and, he says, “mine are just down the street – and mine are better!”

That’s because certain soils in the Eel River floodplains have a high enough moisture retention rate that LaBoyteaux doesn’t have to irrigate. Melons, originally desert plants, just get sweeter when they’re stressed at the end of the season. So the cantaloupes and watermelons LaBoyteaux grows delight customers from around the region with their juicy flavor.

Growing A Diverse Bounty

Beyond melons, Eel Canyon Farm supplies plenty of produce for Southern Humboldt County. During the summer LaBoyteaux hits the Garberville and Ferndale farmers markets each week by himself while one of his crew staffs the stand at the Miranda market. There, vegetables and apples are the main attractions, including fresh cider.

“We used to have a fairly large apple cider-making operation,” LaBoyteaux recalls. But when contaminated Odwalla apple juice killed a few people in the early nineties, the FDA required pasteurization for all apple juices sold in stores.

However, the rules didn’t apply to juice sold at farmers markets or roadside stands. “We chose not to pasteurize, because fresh juice is a different product,” he notes. They did institute safety changes – primarily making juice only from tree-picked fruit – and continue to sell fresh-pressed cider at the farmers markets.

As if all these edibles weren’t enough, LaBoyteaux also raises organic hay that local dairies purchase at the end of the season. All the organic dairies need it, so selling it isn’t a problem – in fact, usually one or two dairies will take the whole crop.

Advocating for Sustainable Agriculture

But LaBoyteaux doesn’t just run the Eel Canyon Farm – he also works tirelessly to support family farming for generations to come. Just after the acronym “CAFF” came to stand for Community Alliance with Family Farmers in 1993 (formerly the California Association of Family Farmers), LaBoyteaux served on the state board of directors.

And when local folks organized a Humboldt County chapter of CAFF last December, LaBoyteaux stepped up to serve on that board, too. Right now he has taken leadership in helping get the new board up to speed on the county’s General Plan Update, a critical process that will shape the future of land use – and agriculture – in Humboldt.

“There’s never been any doubt whatsoever that CAFF is there for the family farmer,” LaBoyteaux said when I asked him why he has put so much time into this organization. “It always looks to the interest of family farmers.”

In addition to CAFF, LaBoyteaux has found numerous other opportunities to advance local farming. He currently serves on the board of the North Coast Regional Land Trust, a local land conservancy that utilizes conservation easements to keep farmland in working use. He is currently the local chapter president of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). He’s a key member of the South (Humboldt) County Farmers Market League. And in the past, he also served on the county’s Resource Conservation District.

Bridging to the Bureau

LaBoyteaux has also been involved with the Humboldt County Farm Bureau for over ten years, and served as president from 2004-2006. As an organic produce farmer, he is somewhat of an anomaly in the Farm Bureau’s leadership. However, his commitment to protecting agricultural lands led him to ally with dairymen and cattle ranchers in their efforts to prevent the loss of soil to subdivisions.

Humboldt County has about 50,000-60,000 acres of farmable land, as compared to approximately ½ million acres in a typical Central Valley county. While suburban sprawl fed by population growth is gobbling up farmland all over, in LaBoyteaux’s opinion, it really affects the coastal counties.

Through the Farm Bureau’s Land Use Committee, LaBoyteaux has helped to shift the mindset of the County government when considering development on prime agricultural lands. The Committee reviews all land use permits on agricultural lands and provides comments to the County.

“Ten years ago, splitting up ag land was pretty automatic,” LaBoyteaux says. “Definitely they’re much more reluctant to do that now.”

Family Farming for the Future

LaBoyteaux regularly travels north to Eureka, the county seat, to attend meetings and testify at public hearings. The trip is at least an hour each way, and during the growing season his days are long. Thanks to great employees, the farm keeps running smoothly.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have a small crew of local people who come back to me each summer,” LaBoyteaux observes, going on to name each of them in turn. Several are family members, a mother and son, a couple who work together on his land. Together, they are the family at Eel Canyon Farm. “I am utterly blessed to have such great folks.”

I don’t think it matters if LaBoyteaux isn’t the best farmer in Humboldt County. Undoubtedly, he works as hard as any farmer, perhaps more due to his passion for farming as a meaningful and essential part of human existence.

“Farming is a way of life, there’s no question about it,” LaBoyteaux tells me, in words that fill me with hope and gratitude. “It’s not just about making a living. It’s about the social, educational, and environmental values.

“We want agriculture to be part of all the communities we live in.”

And thanks to the efforts of farmers like John LaBoyteaux, family farming will continue to be a part of our communities for a long time to come.

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