Meet The Farmer: Katia

Meet Katia

Double F Ranch Farmer and rancher Since 2008

I had the pleasure of chatting with Katia about her life’s journey and the story behind creating Double F Ranch Meat CSA.

Join me as we get a glimpse into the history of Katia’s transformation from restoration ecologist to farmer, the legacy of the family ranch, and what makes the CSA so special.

-Rachel, CSA Community Manager

A little bit about Katia

Katia grew up in Oregon and lived in Salem/Keizer before moving to Portland Metro, west side for high school.

Katia met Nathan in high school math class and nearly failed pre-calculus - she was so distracted.

She first visited Nathan’s family ranch at age 16 and fell in love with the place.

What were you doing before you came out to the ranch?

I was working in the restoration ecology field and wanted to be a wildlife biologist. I loved working in the field.

We always knew that we wanted to move out to the ranch.

We could make our life in Portland and then eventually (hopefully) retire to the ranch someday. Or we could make that jump and try to figure out a way for the ranch to support another household.

How did you find yourself moving to the ranch?

After college when Nathan’s grandfather passed, we asked his uncle Lloyd, who was farming alone, if he would be interested in some help. He said sure. At the time I don’t think he knew what he was getting into, but he said sure.

We quit our jobs in Portland and moved out here in 2008.

Were there any other factors that influenced your desire to jump in and become farmers?

The ranch has a very magnetic presence. It’s not fancy or modern, but it really sticks with people when they come to visit. It’s a bit of a 1970s-time warp really - shag carpet and all - but I think that adds to part of the charm.

The ranch is situated on the unceded lands of the Northern Paiute and Warm Springs bands. Part of it was a land claim made under the Homestead Act by Nathan’s great-grandfather, Frank. He started farming here in 1902.

Then Nathan’s grandfather took over the farming, overlapped by Nathan’s uncle Lloyd who we farm with today.

That’s why the ranch is called Double F Ranch - Frank M. Forman. Same with our brand.

So, Nathan is the fourth generation of our family to steward this land.

When you got to the ranch, what prompted you to start a meat CSA?

Actually, my boss at the time gave me the idea. Once she heard I was going to move out to the family farm, she asked about buying some meat.

(The ranch also raised cattle in what’s called a cow-calf operation in addition to commodity grains such as wheat and barley.)

At the time, grass finished beef was a very fringy thing - corn-fed beef was the standard.

But she said, “No, no, that's exactly the kind of meat that I want.”

So we moved out to the ranch, raised up some grass-finished steers and started selling to this relatively small group of people.

When Nathan and I were in college, we were exposed to the idea of veggie CSA's, which were starting to become more common in the US.

How could we take that model and re-tool it for meat? We could freeze the meat in season and distribute it to our customers year-round. Just give them a little bit at a time so they didn’t have to buy the big ole chest freezer and purchase a whole side of beef. We could be the freezer.

Did you see any other benefits to selling direct to your customers?

One of the benefits of buying direct for the customer is “knowing your farmer” - humanizing the face that produces your food. But it works the other way too.

And here I had this core group of customers that were buying my grass-finished beef. They expected more from their food. These were the people I wanted to serve.

Were there any hurdles in the beginning?

I think it was just such a new model. There really wasn't anybody else in Oregon selling meat like this. There were farms selling sides of beef and there were people that would sell like a boxed bundle. You know, like 10 pounds of ground beef and some steaks.

But there really wasn't anybody that was metering out the meats over time, essentially doing all the storage for the customer. There really weren't any other operations that were providing a species variety, where it was one stop shop - beef, pork, chicken and eggs.

Are there any ongoing hurdles to keeping the CSA going?

Meat processing. Hands down.

I use this tomato analogy all the time because many folks are familiar with raising a tomato plant. So, imagine you are not allowed to pick your own tomatoes. You can hire this crew to come pick your tomatoes next year. They will be there on August 1st. They’ll pick every tomato that day - the small green ones, the perfect ripe ones and the over-ripe mushy ones. Those are the only tomatoes you can sell this year.

I desperately want every tomato to be harvested at the peak of ripeness. But the meat processing capacity just isn’t there. And it is so frustrating because I’ve spent sometimes years tending these “tomato plants”.

And the CSA is really about making the best of what I’ve got and teaching my CSA members that meat is a natural product, it isn’t always perfect and uniform and that's OK.
 

• Sometimes the tomatoes are a little, green and small - like meat chickens that are smaller than I want at harvest time because it’s 100+ degrees all week and chickens don’t eat much when it is hot.

• Sometimes the tomatoes are over-ripe - like the hogs that were ready for harvest weeks ago and the butcher didn’t have any earlier harvest dates available so now they are over-finished which makes for fatty bacon.

• But when the stars align just right and we are able to harvest at exactly the right time, it feels (and tastes!) absolutely amazing.

Why do you think local agriculture is important to creating a resilient food system? 

As a CSA customer, you see me, and you know when you purchase your CSA those dollars are going to support me and my family and my business vision.

But in order for me to even get to that point, [I’m] standing on the shoulders of giants.

There's so many other people and other connections below me that are partaking in this ripple effect through the economy.

We’re trying to work with a more holistic perspective of resource management here on the ranch.

We're giving back to the soil and giving the soil a chance to rebuild and support the microbial community that actually lives in the soil.

Soil is alive and just like the human body it is amazing how it can regenerate and care for itself even after years of abuse. You take care of it, and it will take care of you.

How else are you involved in agriculture?

As a family we’ve worked with various organizations advocating for health of the ecosystem and financial viability of agricultural businesses. Nathan’s grandfather volunteered to serve on the board of the soil and water conservation district and watershed council. Lloyd continues to carry that torch today.

I volunteer with the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance (HDFFA) to advocate for and support small, local producers so they can build strong businesses and contribute to a resilient local food system. It’s very rewarding.

Do you have a special CSA memory that you'd like to share?

One of the things that tips me over into literal tears sometimes is watching CSA kids grow up.

The parents are in the CSA for a little while, then they get pregnant and have the baby and that kid grows up.

I like knowing that I'm part of that. I’m clearly on the outer fringe part of the village it takes to raise a child, but I have nourished that kid their entire life.

That's just bonkers to me because we have kids in the CSA now that are almost 10. I'm like, Oh my gosh, you're so big. It took so many calories and nutrients to make you this size. And I helped.

Do your CSA members understand the value of local agriculture?

Most do. I did have one lady inform me that she had to leave the CSA immediately because of our products.

"Which product?" I asked

"Chicken legs. I would never buy chicken legs at the store!"

I told her I was very sorry and that unfortunately all of our chickens have two legs apiece and wished her the very best.

So, what's up with using the motorhome for CSA pickup?

Hah! The motorhome was in the family (and was actually my first home when we moved to Central Oregon). We have three kids and during Covid we lost all childcare options.

We also saw a huge surge in demand for our products when people went shopping and there was no meat in the grocery store. So, we had a lot of folks really interested in sourcing meat from us.

The motorhome was just the biggest vehicle we had that could fit the whole family in there and, you know, a dozen coolers full of meat. We also had a bathroom and a kitchen, and we could stay overnight because we didn't have overnight accommodations in Portland anymore. It worked really well. Still does.

Thank you, Katia, for sharing your story! -Rachel