Grower Story: Joe Coelho on Soil Health and Sustainability in California’s Central Valley
At Terra Linda Farms in Riverdale, California, grower Joe Coelho improved soil health across 600 acres using MyLand’s Service.
Fourth-generation grower Joe Coelho is always on the hunt for sustainable solutions for the pistachios and almonds on Terra Linda Farms in Riverdale, CA, where here’s been a farmer for 37 years. Situated in California’s Central Valley, Joe is all-too familiar with issues like water scarcity, salty soils, and increasing farming regulations, and gets excited when the right innovation shows up at the right time for his acres, like MyLand’s Service did in 2022.
Joe recently sat down with the co-hosts of The Modern Acre Podcast to share how MyLand’s Soil as a Service™ helped him tackle some of his toughest challenges with faster, more measurable results than anything he’d previously tried.
“I’ve seen a lot of solutions over the years,” said Joe. “But some of the changes I’ve seen with MyLand are very shocking—in a good way. It’s the first time in my career I’ve seen something move this fast.”
Facing challenges head-on
At Terra Linda Farms, Joe oversees almond and pistachio orchards growing in a patchwork of soil conditions—from sandy, fast-draining areas to heavier, salt-affected soils. This variability requires customized management strategies across the farm.
“Water is the lifeblood of the farm—everything comes second after that,” said Joe. “Making the most out of my water is a really important thing. Trying to find ways to use less water and achieve the same high-yielding results to sustain my profitability as a farmer.”
For him and many other growers, the top concern isn’t just how much water is available—it’s how effectively it moves through the soil and supports crop health, even under stress.
“It really it does come down to water in a lot of ways. Inferior water quality can compound the effects of a lot of different things in terms of soil: water infiltration and pH management, overall stress on your crops, and constricting your yields.”
Testing the theory & the ROI
While he has long focused on compost and carbon-based fertility strategies, Joe was intrigued when MyLand reached out with a new concept: live, native microalgae to transform soil biology and chemistry for the better, produced on-site and added to soil through a farm’s existing irrigation system.
Joe admitted he’d never heard of microalgae used this way before, and at first, he “immediately thought seaweed.” But once he heard the theory behind it and saw the organic matter data from Arizona, he was intrigued enough to keep listening.
“We enlisted the help of MyLand for roughly a thousand acres and now have been using their System for more than two years,” he said. “Thanks to MyLand, I’ve replaced more than $450 worth of inputs, plus cut nitrogen 30% and saw the exact same performance.”
Soil health data confirmed what he saw in the field. “The various metrics on soil health—at least in terms of total nitrogen, total organic carbon, seed in ratio, OM aggregate stability—all these things were highly significant really fast.”
MyLand’s periodic soil health reports backed him up:
- Organic phosphorus reserves increased by 359%
- Total phosphorus jumped more than 428%
- Manganese levels doubled
- Iron availability rose by nearly 98%.
Joe said he was surprised by how quickly the results showed up. “I consider it more of a CapEx approach and investment over a period of time,” said Joe. “Surprisingly and happily, things are happening quicker than not… It’s the first time in my career to see something move the way that it is, and some of the changes that I’ve seen are very shocking.”
Less effort, more impact
Beyond soil metrics and input savings, Joe emphasized the value of MyLand’s Service.
“Part of my problem is just having enough time in the day to do everything,” Joe said. “Just having [MyLand] as a one-stop shop for a lot of different solutions is fantastic and saves a lot of headaches at the end of the day, including the elimination of paperwork.”
In addition to his work at Terra Linda Farms, Joe Coelho is also Director of Sustainability and Member Outreach for the American Pistachio Growers, a network encompassing 850 growers. The simplicity and benefits of MyLand’s Service has made it easy to share with his community.
Joe said he sees the same issues across the industry: poor water quality, salinity, labor pressure. What stands out about MyLand, he explained, is that the Service delivers real solutions.
Farming for the long run
Joe, who’s spent years conducting on-farm research and navigating overlapping agtech solutions, sees MyLand as both effective and credible.
“In agriculture, a lot of new companies pitch dashboards and widgets without ever embedding themselves into the reality of a grower,” he said. “MyLand is different. They spent time with me. They made it easy to test. And they’re delivering something that works.”
Looking ahead, Joe plans to continue expanding MyLand’s presence across Terra Linda Farms and sharing those results with other growers with the American Pistachio Growers community.
“It’s not just about yields,” he said. “It’s about reducing complexity, farming more efficiently, and solving multiple problems with one solution.”
To hear more about Joe’s experience with MyLand, tune into the Modern Acre Podcast, episode 410.
About Terra Linda Farms
- Location: Riverdale, California (Central Valley)
- Crops: Pistachios and almonds
- Challenges: Water scarcity, salinity, regulatory pressure
- Acreage: 600 with the MyLand Service (across multiple properties)
Ready to improve your soil health?
Let’s chat! We partner directly with each of our growers to improve their soil from the ground up.