Bucher Farms

Left to right, back: Annemarie, Elizabeth, John Front: Jack and Hannah

Bucher Farms is located in the heart of the Russian River Valley in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, CA. The ranch has been in the family for 50 years and consists of 700 milk cows, 700 replacement heifers, and 40 acres of Pinot Noir wine grapes. The farm is currently transitioning most of the herd to organic milk production.

Once part of the original 11,000-acre White-O Ranch dating back to the early 1930’s, the 360-acre dairy was split off from the ranch in 1958 and purchased by Joe and Annemarie Bucher in 1958. Both born and raised in Switzerland, Joe and Annemarie Bucher emigrated to the U.S. with the dream of owning a dairy ranch in California. Using their savings they purchased their Healdsburg ranch and started with 50 head of dairy cows and a few calves. Since then, they, along with their son John, have increased and improved the quality of their dairy herd by utilizing their own stock in selective breeding programs. John manages the day to day farming operations while Annemarie and office assistant Linda Dawson help out part-time with the bookkeeping and administrative duties.

“I take a lot of pride being a Clover Stornetta Farms producer. To ship our milk to Clover and have them put their name on it, we have to adhere to their high quality standards. We’re committed to the North Coast Excellence Program because we believe that for there to be a future in farming in Sonoma County our focus needs to be on value-added products. The NCEC Program enables us to do that.”

– John Bucher