Diestel Family Ranch becomes first Certified Regenified™ turkey brand
Diestel Family Ranch, a four-generation, family-owned producer of sustainably raised turkeys, offers both certified organic and Non-GMO Project Verified turkey products. Now the Sonora, California turkey producer has gone one step further by adding regenerative certification to its products. Diestel recently became the first turkey producer to achieve Regenified™ certification, a leading regenerative agriculture verification. As part of this certification, Diestel sourced more than 650 tons of Certified Regenified corn earlier this spring.
Prioritize natural and organic farming practices
Diestel Family Ranch’s Regeneratively Raised Turkey
Founded in 1949, Diestel Family Ranch offers a range of turkey products including delicatessen meat, ground turkey, and whole turkeys. Whole turkey varieties include: Non-GMO, Regeneratively Raised, and Organic American Heirloom along with Original and Petite, which are available as Non-GMO Project Verified and organic.
The Diestel family has always prioritized the health of their birds and natural and organic farming practices, says Heidi Diestel, a fourth-generation farmer who runs the day-to-day operations of the ranch along with her brother, Jason.
“We’ve always been on that natural and organic side,” she says.
In 1999, Diestel was one of the first poultry farms to incorporate organic farming practices. Diestel is also committed to non-GMO production. They offered the first Non-GMO Project Verified turkey in the marketplace.
In recent years, Diestel has been raising turkeys on pasture using a rotational grazing system, which involves moving turkeys through different sections or paddocks in the pasture. That program incorporates regenerative practices such as integrating livestock, so seeking regenerative certification was a natural next step for Diestel.
“We really understood some of the basics of regenerative but weren’t as familiar with all the principles so teaming up with the Regenified team really helped us piece together the last few components and helped us understand how we could scale and grow the program,” Heidi says.
Practice- and outcomes-based certification
Founded in 2021 by regenerative farming pioneers Gabe Brown and Allen Williams, Regenified is the first third-party regenerative program to be recognized and accepted by USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services for single and multi-ingredient products. Regenified is also one of the regenerative certifications accepted by Whole Foods Market for regenerative product claims. A growing number of farms and brands including Vital Farms and King Arthur Flour have received Regenified certification. About 1.5 million acres of farmland is certified.
To achieve certification, Diestel had to meet Regenified’s 6-3-4™ Standards which include soil health, adaptive stewardship, and ecosystem processes. Regenified is a practice- and outcomes-based verification and certification program, says Kristine Root, Regenified’s chief marketing officer.
“We’re doing boots-on-the-ground verification at the farm level, measuring both the practices, and the outcomes that farmers are having on their land when they’re using regenerative practices.”
Regenified requires adherence to six principles of soil health, which include considering the farm context or location, minimizing soil disturbance with reduced or no tillage, keeping the soil always covered, increasing diversity above and below ground, maintaining living roots in the ground year-round, and integrating livestock.
Certified Regenefied feed
Regenified’s certification process helps Diestel track its progress in advancing regenerative principles to improve biodiversity, soil health, water quality, and nutrient density. Sourcing regenerative feed was a primary focus.
“Feed is a critical part of raising poultry. If we ignore the animals’ feed sources, then we can’t solve for the future,” Heidi says. “Addressing how the feed is being grown will bring the entire system closer to a regenerative state that supports the future of farming and our planet.”
This past spring, Diestel sourced 650 tons of Certified Regenified, non-GMO corn feed directly from a farmer in Illinois, Greg Thoren. Heidi and her team appreciate having a connection to a Certified Regenified farmer to source feed for their turkeys.
“That is really exciting and something that we’re really proud of because we have a very direct connection to the feed, and it’s part our mission,” she says.
Diestel has set a goal to replace half of its feed with Certified Regenified corn by 2035.
Diestel’s other regenerative practices include:
- Natural habitat for birds: In their natural habitat, turkeys prefer to roam among the trees in deeply shaded forests. Diestel has begun work to replicate this environment giving all birds access to open land, and has planted over two miles of evergreen, perennial shrubs, grasses, and flowering trees to promote biodiversity. These plants attract beneficial insects, improve water quality, and are a key component to creating a diverse landscape as well as restoring ecosystem function.
- Compost for soil health: Diestel turns its organic waste into soil-enriching compost, diverting 2,117 tons annually from landfill and producing roughly 6,350 tons of compost for local use. The compost creates a healthy, diverse environment for microbiology to thrive.
- Probiotics over traditional chemicals: Diestel’s farms use beneficial biology—probiotics, which eliminates the need for chemicals such as chlorine while improving bird health and supporting a healthy ecosystem on the farm and beyond.
Being the first turkey producer to be Certified Regenified wasn’t without challenges.
“The regenerative movement has been really focused on ruminant animals,” Heidi says. “It took a lot of conversation around what it meant for poultry to be regenerative, and how we were contributing to the full system.”
But the certification “really helps set our perspective,” Heidi says. “It really grounded us in our mission because we really had to talk more in depth about why we felt poultry had a seat at the table.”
Diestel’s customers have responded positively to the Regenified certification. “Our customers are very appreciative of the work we’ve been doing, and how thorough we’ve thought about poultry being regenerative,” Heidi says.
Diestel is setting a standard for regenerative turkey production. “Diestel is leading the industry into the future,” says Salar Shemirani, CEO of Regenified. “Their commitment to regenerative agriculture extends beyond the farm and the environment, positively impacting the entire supply chain through off-farm purchases of regenerative feed.”
