Stemple Creek Ranch
Small: one home ranch in Tomales plus a small set of named California partner ranches.
Tomales, Marin County, California, USA
stemplecreek.com ↗verification source ↗
Quality assessment
A single named 4th-generation family ranch (Loren and Lisa Poncia, Tomales CA, same site 100+ years) that is 100% grass-fed AND grass-finished, certified organic by MOCA since 2008, Audubon Certified as Grazed on Bird Friendly Land, and the FIRST ranch in the United States to implement a carbon farm plan — one of three test cases in the 10-year Marin Carbon Project study begun 2013. Single farm + grass-finished + organic certification + independently certified biodiversity practice + a documented soil-carbon research role is the full stack the rubric reserves for exemplary.
- Scale
- Small: one home ranch in Tomales plus a small set of named California partner ranches.
- Feed & inputs
- 100% grass-fed and grass-finished on organic pasture; rotational grazing.
- Animal welfare
- Pasture for life; no feedlot. Certified organic standards apply.
- Environmental
- BEST IN GRAPH. Carbon farming under a Marin Carbon Project plan (compost application, rotational grazing, native species planting); Audubon bird-friendly certification; Leopold Conservation Award and NRCS Excellence in Conservation Award (badge images confirmed on their certifications page).
- Transparency
- HIGH — a public awards-and-certifications page naming each certifier, plus a named certifier (MOCA) that is registry-checkable.
Caveats
Not yet linked to any Vegas venue in our graph — carried in the CEO purveyor list. If a venue claims Stemple Creek, treat it as one of the strongest sourcing claims available and check whether the specific product is from the home ranch or a partner ranch (they publish the distinction).
Fourth-generation family ranch in Tomales, Marin County, California, raising 100% grass-fed beef and lamb, pasture-raised pork (with Big Bluff Ranch), and organic pasture-raised chicken. Practices regenerative rotational grazing and compost application under a Marin Carbon Project carbon farm plan, the first in the US.
Products
100% grass-fed beeflambpastured porkorganic pasture-raised chicken
Certifications
Certified Organic — Marin Organic Certified Agriculture (MOCA), since 2008Audubon Certified: Grazed on Bird Friendly LandMarin Carbon Project carbon farm plan (first in the US)USDA Organic (CROPS + LIVESTOCK) — certifier CCOF, cert 5561008846, "Stemple Creek Ranch Inc. dba Stemple Creek Ranch", Petaluma CA, effective 2025-05-08, record updated 2026-07-16 (prior record 0009833324, Tomales CA)No Real Organic Project listing (checked 2026-08-19)
Registry match
Matched to a public certification registry — a separate record, not a Terroir-verified supplier relationship.
Served at
Sources
What the quality assessment above is built on.
- stemplecreek.com ↗
Audubon Certified badge, Leopold Conservation Award, NRCS award, certified organic references (badge images harvested 2026-08-19)
- stemplecreek.com ↗
First US ranch with a carbon farm plan; one of three test cases in the 10-year Marin Carbon Project study from 2013
- fibershed.org ↗
MOCA certified organic since 2008; 4th generation Poncia family; Tomales CA
- stemplecreek.com ↗
100% grass-fed and grass-finished; regeneratively raised on home ranch or named California partner ranches