Inland Land Trust Supports Agriculture: Kaos in Mendocino
The Inland Mendocino County Land Trust, based in Ukiah, does more than manage conservation easements in the interior of the County. To encourage preservation of our agricultural lands and open space, the Inland Land Trust Board is making an educational investment in young farmers and ranchers. Over the past two years, the Land Trust has provided funding to support learning opportunities that benefit local agriculture.
Following an application process in 2015, the Board awarded the owners of Kaos Sheep Outfit a stipend to attend a ranching business workshop. The funds enabled Jaime and Robert Irwin to participate in training at the internationally acclaimed Ranching for Profit School. The school provides tools and insights that ranchers need to build sustainable businesses.
“The program was the best therapy for our business because it gave us time to get on the same page with our business practices. It offered training in finance and labor that has really helped us to develop our operation, “ says Jaime.
Time to reflect on their business structure is rare because the Irwins run a complex operation – raising sheep for meat, wool, as well as grazing. No wonder they named their business Kaos – they graze sheep in three counties – Mendocino, Lake, and Colusa. Kaos provides sheep to organic winegrape growers who plant soil-building cover crops that need to be grazed. Among Mendocino clients are Dolan, Parducci, and Bonterra, The Irwins also graze their ewes in the pear orchards of Hopland’s Kurt Ashurst and Dan Todd in Potter Valley.
Robert comes from a family who raised sheep in Oregon. He and Jaime came to California in 2010 to run sheep for friends in a Sonoma vineyard. The experience inspired them to buy and raise their own sheep and, in 2012, they first grazed fifty acres at McDowell Vineyards and 1000 at Fetzer.
Jaime explains, “Grapegrowers and farmers find that grazing sheep on their cover crops, such as clover and fava beans, is less costly to them than mowing.”
Besides the advantage of grazing to sustainable farming practices, the Irwins demonstrated another of its important benefits when wildfire scorched acres and acres in Lake County in 2015.
“The Clearlake Oaks area is summer range where we graze. Even though the firestorm spread rapidly, it stopped and didn’t cross where our sheep had grazed,” Jamie explains.
The Irwins’ dedication to their profession has led them deep into the world of sheep. They even planned their 2013 honeymoon around research on the subject. They traveled to Australia to look at Corriedale rams, a breed formerly run in Mendocino County.
“Most large commercial operations rely on the Rambouillet due to its herding mentality and fine wool. But, Corriedale sheep also produce a fine wool and are better in rain than the Rambouillet,” says Jaime. So after the honeymoon was over, the couple returned to our region and built up a stock of Corriedale after purchasing semen and ewes.
During three years in business, they discovered that skilled help was hard to come by. Planning and management tools they acquired at Ranching for Profit have been key to their business growth. In the year since attending the workshop, the Irwins developed a strategy that led to acquisition of another sheep company. This purchase involved hiring new employees and expanded Kaos’ grazing capacity to 4000 ewes.
“The fire-grazing and crop residue grazing puts us in the public eye. It’s an opportunity to educate people about the value of livestock. I believe building our business from scratch, with the assistance of the Inland Land Trust, has made us better sheepherders,” Jaime concludes.
—Dot Brovarney
