From the editors: Tested by fire

March/April 2022 California Bountiful magazine

Kyle Farmer's job of helping raise grass-fed cattle and lambs should be demanding enough of his time. But that's no longer the case in a region where wildfire is a perilous reality.

In 2017, Farmer and other volunteers in Mendocino County helped set fire lines after a blaze burned through ranch lands, killing scores of cattle. Three years later, another massive inferno ravaged residential communities and the rural landscape in Sonoma and Napa wine country, and still another—the largest fire in California history—raged in Mendocino as it devoured acreage from Colusa to Humboldt.

With the need greater than ever, farmers and ranchers like Kyle Farmer are signing on as volunteer firefighters. They, along with those in paid positions, are taking personal risks to protect their agricultural communities and way of life.

In this issue of California Bountiful, we celebrate these firefighters and—as always—the agricultural way of life as we feature its bounty from strawberries to flowers to walnut butter. You may notice this logo at the end of most stories. That means the subject is a member of the California Farm Bureau, which publishes California Bountiful and works to protect the future and quality of life for all California farmers and ranchers.

We hope you enjoy this issue's California journey, learn about the state's incomparable farm products and gain even greater appreciation for the farmers and ranchers who make it possible while putting themselves on the line to see that it endures.