McCormack Family Lamb Ranch

California

Niman Ranch Lamb at the McCormack Ranch

Jeannie McCormack and Al Medvitz, from Northern California, are Niman Ranch lamb ranchers.

It’s safe to say that without Niman Ranch’s first lamb producers, Jeanne McCormack and her husband, Al Medvitz, the Niman Ranch Pork Company would never have come to be.

During a visit to San Francisco in the mid-90s, hog farmer Paul Willis looked up his old Peace Corps friend Jeanne who, along with her husband, Al, had returned to Northern California to take over the family ranch. Jeanne told Paul how neighboring cattle rancher Bill Niman had started successfully selling her lamb along with his beef to local restaurants in the Bay Area. Jeanne offered to connect Bill and Paul, and soon, Paul’s Iowa pork was being served by leading farm-to-table Bay Area chefs.

As the demand for high-quality pork grew, Paul started recruiting his friends in Iowa who were raising pigs the same way he was—outdoors, with room to roam. Free-range pork, he called it. As they say, the rest is history.

Jeanne and Al are still raising 2,000 lambs annually for Niman Ranch on the Northern California land settled and ranched by her grandfather in the late 1800s. They use the same rotation of sheep and small grains—oats, barley and wheat—that her ancestors brought over from the Isle of Arran off of Scotland to keep the system sustainable and the soil healthy, and to maintain the exceptional quality of their lamb.

We thank Jeanne and Al for all of their contributions to the success of Niman Ranch from the very beginning.

How many generations in your family are ranchers?

Three.

What crops are produced on your ranch?

Wheat, barley, safflower, alfalfa hay and grapes.

What’s the history of your family’s operation?

We currently run the ranch that was originally founded in 1896 by Jeannie’s grandfather, Dan McCormack, a Scottish immigrant to New Brunswick, Canada, who finally settled around Rio Vista in 1892. My father, Wallace McCormack, ran the ranch from 1934 to 1999.

What sustainable farming practices are part of your ranch?

We grow the grain integral to our operation. In 2004, native grasses were seeded into permanent pastures in an effort to sustainably control invasive weeds.

How long have you sold lamb to Niman Ranch?

We were the first lamb producer in 1993.

How did you begin selling to Niman Ranch?

I (Jeannie) developed the first network of lamb producers by recruiting my neighbors in helping me supply Niman Ranch lamb. Through the Peace Corps, I met Niman Ranch’s first hog farmer, Paul Willis, and introduced him to the Niman Ranch family of cattle and lamb producers.

"I love to farm because every day of my life I think of my father, my grandfather and my grandmother. I imagine what they did as I go about my daily tasks. I love this land."

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