Third-generation dairy farmers Ben and Jessica Silacci took over ownership of the Silacci Dairy in Petaluma from Ben’s father. Their closed, organic herd consists of 200 Holstein and Jersey milking cows. In addition to the dairy operation, the Silacci family grows about 25% of their own high-quality feeds (organic alfalfa and clover) and all of their organic pasture grasses and silage on 196 acres of rolling hills and pasture.
Ben Silacci started working at his father’s dairy farm directly after college. Jessica also grew up on a farm in Petaluma, where she was introduced to cattle at an early age. She got her first heifer (Dixie) in third grade, which proved instrumental in developing the family’s herd over the following decade.
Owned by Ben’s grandfather and great uncle, the Silacci land has been in dairy farming since the 1940s. They earned attention in the 1950s for their elevated barn, only the second such structure ever built in Northern California.