American River Ag, Inc.

Craig Walker, CEO
875 Alfalfa Plant Road, Courtland, CA 95615
Phone: 916/941-9288

American River Ag’s CEO and founder Craig Walker grew up farming and ranching in California. In 2007, Craig founded American River Ag, Inc. (ARA), a certified organic farm, specializing in sun-drying vegetable ranch that produces wholesale, organic feed ingredients for animals, including pet food and livestock feed with minimal environmental impact, providing California farmers and consumers with natural pet food and feed with operations in Courtland and Stockton, California.

History

In 2011, Craig and a local Dairyman formed American Hay and Cattle LLC, which purchased a 63-acre alfalfa plant used for decades to process California alfalfa. The property sits amid wine and pear production in an agricultural area of Courtland California in Sacramento County, America’s “Farm to Fork Capital” and a “Right-to-Farm” region. Shortly after the purchase it was leased to American River Ag. Although the alfalfa plant operated as a farm related enterprise for decades, immediately prior to the purchase, and in a very short time, the property fell into disarray and was strewn with unsightly garbage, vermin ran rampant, and existing dilapidated barns on the property attracted crime and vagrants. Once ARA began leasing the property, that all changed. American River Ag cleaned the property, refurbished the barns, and began drying potato product in the fresh air, without the use of additives and with minimal energy output on the same ground where alfalfa had historically been processed and left to dry.

Once garbage was removed, vermin was abated, and warehouses were repaired, ARA immediately began local organic farming operations. The pad area once for stacks of alfalfa is now used to solar dry fresh and market quality vegetables. ARA’s Courtland facility uses a hard pad to sun dry potatoes. Local products including soybeans, carrots and occasionally grains are also milled, stored and dried, and then made into wholesome ingredients for pet food, and dairy and poultry livestock feed. A certain percentage of the products are organic certified.

ARA’s business is naturally environmentally friendly. The ranch is certified organic under the rigorous standards of both California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and the US Department of Agriculture. American River Ag’s Courtland ranch uses the most natural process available for vegetable dehydration: the sun.

American River Ag’s primary customers are pet food and livestock feed businesses in the Western United States. Farmers need organic feed to provide organic beef, chicken, eggs and milk to the ever-expanding market of consumers who value healthy, organic food. Likewise, pet owners today want the best quality, organic pet food for their pets. American River Ag is an important part of both markets. In addition to its sun-dried vegetable products, American River Ag has a secure, certified organic trans-loading operation at the Port of Stockton, California. The Stockton facility helps California’s natural and organic farmers deliver their products to market through organic trans-loaders and organic warehouses that preserve the product’s organic certification throughout the transportation process.

ARA helps California farmers in other ways. The vegetables dried are fresh and market quality, not to be confused with aged vegetables or compost products. But, most of American River

Ag’s products are considered simply too large or to small, blemished, or overproduced due to seasonal variation, American River Ag recycles these fresh but perhaps imperfect vegetables, minimizes food waste, and helps California farmers get the highest value for their crops.

American River Ag. is a responsible a farm community member and is an active supporter of many local charitable organizations, including Chicks in Crisis, Loaves and Fishes, and the California Highway Patrol’s 11-99 Foundation, as well as the Sacramento County Sheriff’s department and California’s Rail Safety Month.

ARA is also member of three farm bureaus (California Farm Bureau, Sacramento Farm Bureau and San Joaquin Farm Bureau)