From the Fields: Ben Lyons, Solano County farmer

By Ben Lyons
Solano County farmer

We use a self-sustainable farm model, and we do a farmers market and CSA (community-supported agriculture). We have probably 30 different varieties of fruits and row crops, and we have animals that are part of regenerative agriculture. 

We are certified naturally grown, but we are not certified organic because of the political nature of what has happened within organic certification—the avenue they took of allowing aquaponics and farming in pots, with everything fertigated through liquid.  

My farm is small. I lost my labor. He self-deported back to Mexico, so I downsized. It’s been a great year as far as the weather goes. I do have a little flush of harlequin bugs. Since I don’t spray anything, it’s to be expected. I just vacuum them up with my little battery-powered vacuum. That’s my pest management control system. For the fruit trees, I’ll do sulfur and soap for leaf curl. 

With the warm weather in March, I wanted to put things in the ground, but I waited until after first frost. Then April was so wet that I wasn’t able to get in till the end of April. I think that’s why I have more pressure from the insects.  

We’re investigating putting in truffles. It’s another long-term project. We went to the National Truffle Association conference in Santa Rosa this year. We’ve met some people that can give us information, business models and business plans. There’s several different vendors that we met at the conference that can help us make that decision. 

For me, it was more about trying to find out whether truffles could work in good soil as opposed to where truffles are grown and found in Europe, which is mostly poor, rocky soils. That was the big question that I found out about and that I would need to make sure. I met a guy from Australia who said he was doing all the things that we do in organic, and he was having great results.

In this edition…

• Regenerative label payoff remains murky
• Paintballs among new tools allowed for hazing wolves
• Influence starts with engaged Farm Bureau members
• USDA seeks to ease organic certification process, costs
• From the Fields: Chris Jergenson, Merced and Stanislaus counties organic farmer
• From the Fields: Ben Lyons, Solano County farmer
• From the Fields: Domenic Carinalli, Sonoma County organic dairy farmer and conventional winegrape grower
• From the Fields: Katie Herzog, Monterey County agave grower
• New 'smart' farm tech targets vegetable production
• Growth in organic milk presents market challenges
• Advocacy in Action: Packaging requirements, labor, beef cattle, trade, compost, Roadless Rule and disaster relief
• How you can make the switch to regenerative farming
• Summit seeks to strengthen agritourism
• Leopold award finalists for 2026 selected