Stillwater Farms
Stillwater Farms Inc. is a 6,000-acre ranch located in the NE corner of the Lahontan Valley, about 20 miles from Fallon, NV. The property has been part of a cattle ranching operation since the 1880’s. Today cattle ranching and modern farming practices are employed on the property to raise quality livestock as well as to enhance waterfowl habitat in a manner that the two species benefit through compatible crops and management. Interspersed in the ranch are approximately 2,500 acres of wetlands on the landscape that inspires us to enhance waterfowl and shorebird ecosystems and to combine ranching and wetland beneficiations. Each spring and fall hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl and other riparian dependent species pass through the Lahontan Valley on their semiannual treks across the continent while at the same time cows are calving on the property.
Since the early 1900s, during the fall and winter months these wetlands, currently recognized as the best private wetlands in the State of Nevada, have provided some outstanding birding and waterfowl hunting for generations of hunters fortunate enough to get to experience them. Come February, when the hunting season is over the ranch implements practices to encourage waterfowl and shorebirds loafing and layover while they refuel to continue their northward migration and/or to nest on our property. During this period, we maintain low impact farming practices during the nesting season for the benefit of the waterfowl and shorebirds.
Protecting this fragile marsh in the middle of the desert, providing good quality natural and agricultural habitat for the various species that frequent this unusual locale and passing on the proud hunting and conservation tradition carried on for more than a century are some of the things that makes Stillwater Farms such a special place to those of us fortunate enough to call it ours.
At the property, we encourage the development of youth traditions of hunting and conservation, best management practices as well as good modern farming practices. We are proud to host activities such as a DU Greenwing Youth Waterfowl Days where youngsters discuss waterfowl with a biologist, participate in activities such as trap shooting, duck calling, painting decoys, tours of the marsh that include discussion on what and how marshlands benefit nature’s cycle of cleansing.