Marin County, California, is an extraordinary place with an exceptional community of farmers and ranchers. Traditional cattle, dairy and sheep ranchers live and work alongside oyster farmers, cheese makers and vegetable producers, bringing us high quality, local and organic food. The land they steward provides watershed protection and habitat for an amazing diversity of birds, plants, and wildlife. This documentary brings into sharp focus the lives and work of nine farm families in transition, capturing the depth of commitment and passion of the real "Hidden Bounty of Marin."

In the early 1970s, increased coastal development and plans for a city with a population of 125,000 people on the shores of Tomales Bay were just some of the ideas being proposed for the future of western Marin County, located about 40 miles north of San Francisco. The developments would have ended a 150-year-old tradition of family farming and permanently degraded many of the natural resource treasures of the area, but change seemed inevitable.

In a unique alliance, Marin ranchers and environmentalists came together to fight the development proposals. Ranching was given a second chance through a combination of restrictive zoning, land use regulations, active support for ranching by County government, and the establishment of Marin Agricultural Land Trust's (MALT) agricultural conservation easement program. "We felt MALT was an opportunity to be part of something really important to the future of Marin County," said MALT founder and dairywoman Ellen Straus, who died in 2002. Since its birth, the organization has permanently preserved over 42,300 acres of farmland that might otherwise have been sold or developed.