PLEASANT GROVE, Calif. — Twenty miles north of Sacramento is a three-generation family farm growing the only certified regenerative organic popcorn in California.

“My husband, Ed, planted our first field of popcorn in 1985,” said Wynette Sills. “Popcorn was the first crop that he grew organically.”

The family now grows more than 400 acres of certified regenerative organic popcorn. The crop includes yellow, white and multi-colored popcorn, which is a mixture of yellow, white, red and blue popcorn.

“We sell our organic popcorn in 25- and 50-pound bags wholesale to organic food distributors that ship our popcorn throughout the United States,” she said.

Popcorn is planted in May. The fields are rotated with rice, wheat and dry beans, while using vetch, a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family, as a cover crop. It is chopped and disced into the soil just before the popcorn is planted.

The vetch cover crop provides about half of the nitrogen needed by the popcorn, she said. “We also rely on the addition of poultry litter (a combination of poultry manure and bedding material) to the soil prior to planting to supply the extra nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium needed to grow popcorn.”

Precise cultivation and irrigation are done throughout the summer growing season, and the popcorn is harvested in the fall.

“Munchers might find our popcorn being enjoyed in a community movie theater in Michigan, being popped at a farmers market in San Diego, sold at a Sacramento Kings basketball game, or showcased at a grocery store in Japan,” she said.

Although most of the popcorn grown in the U.S. comes from the Midwest, Pleasant Grove Farms adds value to its popcorn with its on-farm mill. This allows the farm to clean, size and package the popcorn.

The farm is also Safe Quality Food certified, making it the highest quality organic popcorn.

The farm has a total of 3,000 acres of certified organic land. In addition to cleaning and bagging its crops, it also cleans and bags organic crops for other growers and food companies, according the farm’s website.

Wynette Sills cited two major challenges facing California agriculture.

No. 1 is “the unpredictability of our water supply for growing food,” she said. “No. 2 is increased costs for all our growing expenses, while the sale price of our organic crops hasn’t increased to keep up with the added costs.”

Stephanie Younger, CEO of the Yuba Sutter Farm Bureau, said the Sills family has been an active member of the Farm Bureau for many years.

Members of the Sills family serve in different leadership roles in the Farm Bureau and in the agriculture community, she said.

They open their doors to the public to teach about their operation and the unique commodity they grow.

They are investing in the legacy of the family farm by encouraging the next generation to be involved in the business, Younger said.

Wynette Sills

Hometown: Pleasant Grove, Calif.

Occupation: Farmer.

Education: Master’s degree in integrated pest management from the University of California-Davis.

Family: Husband, Ed, and daughter, Jessica, help lead the family farm. They also have two additional adult children. Daughter Kate is a software engineer, and son Andrew is serving in the military.

Quotable: “We are a third-generation family farm, dedicated to growing the best tasting, highest quality grains, while also doing everything we can to conserve and nurture our natural resources.”