Raquel Krach

Raquel Krach grew up in the suburbs of Southern California, where she had little awareness or knowledge of agriculture beyond her social studies text book. This changed when her interests and studies in biology, ecology and conservation in college and graduate school led her to the field of agro-ecology.  Her eyes opened to seeing agricultural systems as functioning ecosystems in and of themselves, and as part of the greater natural landscapes in which they sit.  As a student she was passionate about learning how ecological knowledge could inform agricultural practices, to reduce negative impacts on the environment.

In 1997 Raquel and her husband left academics to join the family farm, jumping at the opportunity to be organic farmers and environmental stewards.  They farm almonds, rice, and many rotation and cover crops, and also integrate sheep into their fields and orchard. 

Over the years Raquel has been frustrated that there is such limited research conducted on these kinds of more environmentally friendly agricultural methods.  It is much needed to increase basic understanding and to help guide practice so that farmers can improve their operations.  She finds new inspiration in the energy and awareness that has come about with the Regenerative Agriculture movement; how it calls new attention to the relationship agriculture has to its local and regional environments, and most importantly, to its potential to slow global climate change by reducing GHGs and sequestering carbon.

This led her back to graduate school at Chico State in the Interdisciplinary Masters Program in Regenerative Agriculture to learn the science of the physical, chemical, and biological processes at work in regenerative agriculture practices and participate in research to document the results of these processes. Her thesis project looked specifically at the effects of compost application and cover crop planting in her farm’s organic almond orchard on its soil health, water use efficiency and crop production. She finished her degree in Spring 2023.

Raquel's current goals are to support the research of the Center through data management, manuscript development and graduate student coordination.