Meet the Farmer

Reyna Yagi didn’t grow up intending to become a farmer. While she had been introduced to agriculture through her father who worked on his family farm through his teenage years, Reyna’s career path started in the non-profit space focused on urban agriculture and food justice. While working for organizations such as Oakland’s Food Policy Council and the Petaluma Bounty Farm, Reyna realized that she didn’t just want to advocate for urban farming—she wanted to be on the farm herself, calling back to her family’s history and reconnecting with the land. Reyna understood the ecological challenges and food system inequity in her nonprofit work, and wanted to do something about it. 

Her father’s family farm, the Yagi Brothers Farm, had previously operated in Stockton and sold tomatoes. Reyna knew very little about the business, with only her grandfather’s tools and uncle’s stories to fill in the picture. In an homage to her family’s farm, Reyna named her business Yagi Sisters. 

Reyna can trace her family’s love of growing crops to her great-great-grandfather, who gardened in a Japanese relocation camp as an act of resilience and resistance. Operating from this important family connection, she is deeply committed to her work and believes that farms can be a tool for regenerative ecological approaches that are helpful, rather than harmful, to people and the soil. 

After completing a farm apprenticeship, which she balanced with her full-time work, Reyna was able to find a parcel of land through her mentor. Once settled on the land, she began growing Asian specialty crops and mixed vegetables while immersing in the farming community. 

Reyna welcomes people to get to know her farm and the work she does. She often hosts educational tours, sharing her own family history and zooming out to reflect on the importance of supporting your local farmer. When she’s not on the farm, Reyna works as a Regional Groundwater Organizer for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. She also continually nurtures her connections to other spaces; she currently serves on the advisory committee for the urban-edge farm Sunol AgPark. Even though the days can feel long, Reyna feels energized and grounded in the path she has chosen.