A Flock of All Trades
A feature article from Bluedot Living’s Santa Barbara Green Guide (March 2025) profiling Cuyama Lamb’s multifaceted operation: wildfire prevention grazing contracts with fire departments, native habitat restoration, seasonal shearing and wool processing, a collaboration with indigenous weaver Porfirio Gutierrez, and research into wool pellets as a soil amendment.
Testing Virtual Fence Systems for Fire Fuel Management: Final Report (FW23-421)
A USDA SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) farmer/rancher grant final report by Cuyama Lamb LLC testing GPS-collar virtual fencing (Nofence) technology against traditional electric fencing for targeted grazing in wildfire fuel management contexts. Includes detailed comparative analysis of containment effectiveness, labor hours, and projected costs over 1, 3, and 5 years.
Baa Baa Local Sheep: Cuyama Lamb, Stewards for the Land
A longform magazine article from Edible Santa Barbara’s Summer/Fall 2020 issue offering an in-depth, personal account of Cuyama Lamb founders Jack Thrift Anderson and Jenya Schneider. Covers the operation’s three pillars — land management grazing, meat production, and wool — as well as the semi-nomadic lifestyle of shepherding, the role of working dogs, and the […]
Cuyama Lamb: Partner Profile — Managing Wildfire Risk and Restoring Native Grasslands
A partner profile from the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network describing Cuyama Lamb’s integrated crop-livestock management approach, closed-loop production system, and role in local food system resilience. Includes detail on their wildfire mitigation contracts, rotational grazing methods, and expansion plans.
Cuyama Lamb: Regenerating Native Grasslands Through Sheep Grazing
A feature article by the nonprofit Kiss the Ground profiling Cuyama Lamb as a pioneering regenerative grazing operation rooted in Native American land stewardship principles. Covers their rotational grazing model, wildfire risk reduction, invasive species management, and cooperative ownership goals.
Meet Cuyama Lamb: A California Lamb Producer Story
A short producer profile video from California Lamb featuring Cuyama Lamb LLC, highlighting their ecological grazing operation, regenerative land stewardship practices, and commitment to sustainably raising food and fiber in Santa Barbara County.
The Art and Science of a Prescribed Burn: Firefighters and Ranchers Team Up at the Chamberlin Ranch
A Santa Barbara Independent article by Tyler Hayden reporting on a two-day, 80-acre prescribed burn conducted at the Ted Chamberlin Ranch in May 2021, in which Santa Barbara County Fire Department trained firefighters from 13 California agencies in wildland containment techniques while simultaneously reducing dangerous fuel loads on the property. The article covers the dual […]
From Pilots to Big Bold Visions: Rapid Scaling of Carbon Farming in Santa Barbara County
A panel presentation slide deck from August 2017 prepared for the Central Coast Climate Collaborative, featuring Russell Chamberlin (Ted Chamberlin Ranch), Anna Olsen (Cachuma Resource Conservation District), Emily Miller (Community Environmental Council), Sharyn Main (Santa Barbara Foundation), and Aeron Arlin Genet (Santa Barbara County APCD). The presentation covers the science of carbon farming, results from […]
The Amazing Ability of Pasture Grass to Sequester Carbon: Carbon Ranching at the Ted Chamberlin Ranch
A Santa Barbara Independent cover story by Jean Yamamura examining carbon ranching at the Ted Chamberlin Ranch, where a 60-acre CDFA Healthy Soils Initiative demonstration project uses compost application to increase topsoil, enhance soil microbiology, boost forage production, improve water retention, and sequester carbon in deep grass roots — with results showing a 16% increase […]
Greening the Ranch and Feeding the People: Regenerative Agriculture at the Ted Chamberlin Ranch
A Bluedot Living article by Jim Miller profiling Russell Chamberlin and Mary Heyden, who co-manage the Ted Chamberlin Ranch, describing their incremental adoption of regenerative agriculture practices — including more frequent rotational grazing, compost application, prescribed burns, and direct-to-consumer beef sales — and the environmental and economic tradeoffs involved in transitioning an 8,000-acre cattle ranch […]