Brennan, Jewett, Hackett. Land Management, Brokerage and Appraisals Call

Stewardship and agricultural projects

Water, habitat and working farmland are one subject in the Sacramento Valley. These are projects and places connected to the firm's brokers, explained plainly, with links to the people who run them.

Winter-flooded rice and the Nigiri Project

Most Sacramento Valley rice fields sit empty after harvest. The Nigiri Project, led by California Trout with UC Davis and state and federal agencies, floods harvested rice fields in the Yolo Bypass in winter so juvenile Chinook salmon can feed in shallow, food-rich water, much as they once did on the valley's natural floodplain. According to California Trout, a 2012-13 pilot on Knaggs Ranch reared about 53,000 juvenile salmon on 25 harvested acres, and the fish grew several times faster than fish in the river.

John Brennan's biography describes his role through Cal Marsh and Farm Ventures and Knaggs Ranch, and California Trout lists both among the project's partners. Robbins Rice Company's news posts from 2014 and 2015 report John presenting the idea to a Woodland Rotary club, appearing in an Environmental Defense Fund feature, and filming a video of the Fremont Weir. Those are historical reports. This describes John's own farming and conservation work as his biography and those sources report it; nothing here implies endorsement by California Trout or its partners.

Robbins Rice Company and Black Fox

Robbins Rice Company grows and markets premium short grain rice from the Sacramento Valley, including Koshihikari, the Japanese variety. Its Black Fox brand page names Robbins Rice Company as the producer and describes a family-owned farm in Robbins. John Brennan's biography says he is a partner in the company with Lance and Jon Matteoli of Matteoli Brothers. The company websites do not name their owners, so that is the only source for his role.

History and landscape

Davis Ranches and the Brick House, Sycamore

Sycamore, about eight miles south of Colusa on the Sacramento River, was established in 1857 on part of the Rancho Jimeno land grant. According to Davis Ranches, Howell Davis founded the ranch and the town, and the family's ferry landing on the river was a main source of income. The Brick House was designed in 1882 by Samuel and Joseph Newsom and finished in 1894 with more than 300,000 bricks made on the ranch. Olive Percy Davis was the last family member to live there.

Today the ranch's own website describes farming, native habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl, a duck club, education programs and an event venue. The photographs here were taken in the Sycamore Slough Road area, within about a tenth of a mile of the ranch's published address at 7681 Sycamore Slough Road (checked against its map location), between 2018 and 2024.

This is a landscape and history feature, not a listing. Brennan, Jewett, Hackett is not representing Davis Ranches; history is summarized from the ranch's own website, and none of its photographs or logos are used.

Front of the red brick Victorian house between two tall palm trees, with stone steps, planters and a green lawn under a blue sky
The red brick Victorian house lit orange by low evening sun beside a bare oak and cypress
The red brick Victorian seen from the lawn at an angle, with its turret, gables and arched porch beside tall palm trunks
Straight-on view of the front double doors in golden oak with stained-glass sidelights and a stained-glass transom
Close view of a stained-glass sidelight with blue glass and scrolling ironwork-style leading
Curved brick turret wall with an arched window and a stained-glass transom
Looking down the brick arcade of the porch through a row of arches
Close view of an ornate bronze door escutcheon and knob on the weathered wooden door
An arched stained-glass window with a floral medallion in green, yellow, blue and rose glass, seen from inside
A stone gate pier and black wrought-iron fence beside shrubs and citrus trees
The arcaded brick front of the house with a curved walk, stone steps and lawn under a spreading tree
Side of the brick house with its veranda under a blue sky
A green row-crop field beyond a slough edge with tules and yellow flowers

California ERC Exchange

The California ERC Exchange is an independent listing service for California emission reduction credits (ERCs), which businesses can buy or sell to offset air emissions. It is operated by Brennan, Jewett, Hackett in association with Peter F. Brennan, Inc. Its contact is Samuel F. Brennan, broker (DRE 02178674), (530) 635-8196, as published on the exchange's site. The site states it is not affiliated with any air district, CARB or any government agency, and that its content is not legal, tax or investment advice.

Easements, water and the land itself

We explain these in plain language for owners and buyers: conservation easements, water and irrigation, the Williamson Act and land with conservation easements.

External links open the organizations' own websites. They are provided for background; the organizations are not affiliated with this website unless stated above.