Loren Poncia @ Stemple Creek Ranch

The Bay Area’s Regional Regenerative Meat Brand

Anthony and Kyle interview Loren Poncia, the owner of Stemple Creek Ranch. Stemple Creek is supporting regenerative agriculture with their regeneratively-raised beef, lamb, pork, and chicken products raised and rotated at their home ranch just north of San Francisco and across more than 8,000 acres of land in the northern California region. Their products are mainly sold direct to consumer online and can be found at local farmers' markets, restaurants, and select retailers. 

Four Generations To Come Full Circle

Stemple Creek Ranch has been a family-run operation for four generations. Loren Poncia’s great-grandfather immigrated from Italy in 1897 and established a diversified farm, raising cattle and poultry while growing crops. However, in the middle generations, the farm transitioned into a mono-dairy operation, which Loren grew up on and loved. Despite his passion for ranching, he realized during college that there wasn’t a viable financial path for him to return to the farm. Instead, he pursued a corporate career, working in sales for veterinary pharmaceutical companies, including Monsanto, where he gained invaluable business skills. Ultimately, though, he knew his heart was still on the ranch.

After about a decade in sales, Loren and his wife, Lisa, returned to California and bought the cattle operation from his parents. They initially ran a conventional ranching operation, selling to other brands, but after a few years, he realized that model wasn’t financially sustainable. Inspired by Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, they invested in developing the Stemple Creek brand and pivoted toward local, direct-to-consumer sales—selling online, as well as through farm-to-table restaurants and small grocers. Since taking ownership, they’ve grown Stemple Creek 15 times over. Today, they manage 8,000 acres (including their 1,000-acre home ranch), raising 2,000 beef cattle, 1,000 lambs, 400 pigs, and 2,000 chickens annually.

What Coyotes And Beavers Have To Do With Regenerative Ranching

Loren Poncia grew up watching his father manage Stemple Creek Ranch with fairly conventional ranching practices, keeping about 20 cows in each field and delivering hay to them regularly. However, his father was also ahead of his time in land stewardship, intentionally creating wildlife habitat, fencing off sensitive areas, and establishing riparian barriers to protect water sources. When Loren took over, he had the ranch certified organic and implemented rotational grazing—not because of any grand sustainability plan at the time, but simply because he noticed that moving cattle more frequently resulted in growing more grass. Over the years, he has continued refining Stemple Creek’s regenerative practices, working with consultants and adapting his approach to balance ecological health with economic sustainability.

Loren now oversees a very complex operation. Cattle are grazed in land covering an 800-mile stretch from Oregon down to the Bay Area, California. Sheep are also incorporated on the ranch, but must be in different locations from the cows so that the sheep’s guardian dogs do not chase the cattle and slow down their weight gain. Grazing patterns are always being fine-tuned; for example, during heavy rains, cattle are temporarily moved onto a large wood-chip-covered area to prevent excessive mud and soil compaction.

"We manage everything for soil health. That’s going to hopefully make the land more healthy, more biodiverse, and build more soil and create more life. That’s the whole regenerative thing to me—it’s about creating more life and doing this dance with nature."  – Loren

Loren’s commitment to land stewardship has also led to incredible biodiversity gains. He has fenced off new riparian zones, planted thousands of trees, and restored natural habitats, resulting in the return of 55 bird species, as well as insects Loren had never seen before. Now, he’s working to bring back beavers, recognizing their critical role in water conservation.

The 3 Keys To Producing The Highest Quality Grassfed Beef

Producing high-quality, grass-fed and finished beef at Stemple Creek Ranch comes down to three key factors: age at harvest, animal genetics, and year-round access to high-quality forage. Loren ensures that cattle are only harvested when they’re truly ready, typically at 24 to 26 months, or ideally as old as 28 months for the best marbling and flavor. They primarily use Angus and Angus-mix genetics, which contribute to superior meat quality. High-quality grass and hay are also essential. To optimize forage they keep mother cows and calves on marginal leased land while finishing animals graze on the lushest pastures of the home ranch.

Unlike many grass-fed operations, Stemple Creek grades all of its beef at harvest. Their head butcher marks the highest-quality cuts, ensuring the best product goes to premium customers like high-end restaurants, while other cuts are distributed accordingly. Meeting retailer demands for fresh beef year-round is another challenge. In an ideal world, they would harvest cattle only in spring and summer, when animals naturally put on the most fat, but since retailers require fresh meat year-round, they carefully supplement with hay and strategically rotate cattle to maintain quality even in the leaner months. 

Building An Honest Regional Regenerative Brand

Loren and Lisa have made smart and strategic decisions as they’ve grown the Stemple Creek Ranch brand. When they shifted to DTC sales, Lisa knew they had to invest in building a high-quality website early on. She has also led smart business choices like purchasing the neighboring ranch next door and converting the barns into farm stays and event spaces for additional revenue and brand marketing.

When it comes to sales, Stemple Creek has leveraged California's strong farm-to-table restaurant scene. Early on, Loren connected with Chez Panisse, a renowned restaurant owned by local food and regenerative agriculture advocate, Alice Waters. This helped propel the brand forward, and soon Loren was making deliveries himself, supplying top-tier restaurants, natural grocers and local farmers markets like the Marin Farmers Market, a year-round venue with massive foot traffic. As demand grew, Stemple Creek scaled its operations, adding refrigerated delivery vans, a weekly harvest schedule in Merced, and boxed beef distribution from their warehouse.

While the ranch is certified organic, G.A.P., and Audubon Bird Friendly, Loren has resisted chasing every available certification, believing that honesty and transparency matter more than paying for labels. Instead, he focuses on direct relationships with customers, ensuring that his brand is known for quality without needing outside validation. 

“I just want to be first-person certified—I want people to come and see us and trust us. I realize that certifications can be necessary for bigger retail, like Whole Foods, but for now, we’ve built a business based on honesty and transparency. I don’t want to pay someone to give me a gold star for doing the right thing.” – Loren

Looking ahead, Loren is focused on expanding Stemple Creek’s impact by bringing other regenerative producers into the brand and streamlining the process from harvest to consumption. To support this growth, they recently hired a GM to oversee the meat business, allowing Loren to focus on ranching and long-term strategy. His goal is to create a business that thrives beyond his direct involvement, motivating his staff through ownership opportunities and mentoring the next generation of ranchers. 

50% Market Share For Regen

Loren believes the industry needs to focus on education, consumer awareness, and making regenerative products more accessible. He emphasizes that price and convenience remain the biggest barriers—most consumers care about where their food comes from but aren’t always willing or able to pay a premium or seek out specialty products. He also highlights the importance of building strong regional brands rather than trying to scale regenerative agriculture into a conventional, centralized model. 

"If we could replicate our model of honesty, transparency, and quality, and make it taste good and be as affordable as possible and get the consumers to want it, then I think I think we'll be there. I think we can be there before 2050." – Loren

This ReGen Recap was written by Katey Finnegan

You can check out the full episode with Kyle and Anthony HERE

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