Our Team

Norela

Norela is a Native Arizonan. Her grandparents purchased Bent River Ranch in 1959 and it continues to be a focus for the family. Bent River Farms is now growing produce, fruit, and eggs to help supply our community with really great food, with plans to open a camp bringing children and adults to the farm to teach about permaculture, sustainable agriculture, entrepreneurial skills, and finding your purpose, your dream, or your ability to do what you love most in the world while giving back & making the world better.

To help with this dream, Norela has spent the last 40+ years owning and running a manufacturing company, Bent River Machine Inc, in Clarkdale with her husband Herald, designing and building factory automation. She has also worked on the ranch and grown alfalfa (and other grasses for hay), corn, blackberries and apricots as well as raising cattle, goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits and Great Pyrenese working dogs. She is also a certified Coach and facilitator for several different programs. She has her B.S. degree from NAU.

Herald

Herald grew up on a family farm in Northeast Missouri. His father’s side of the family had been farmers in Missouri and Iowa since the 1800’s. The farm was a typical row crop farm, primarily corn and soybeans, with lots of commercial fertilizers, weed sprays, large equipment and tight margins.

When he turned 20, he looked at the whole conventional farming process and came to the conclusion it was not for him. It was, and is, a high volume low margin business.

Herald joined the US Air Force in 1977 and left farming, he thought, for good. When he left the Air Force in 1982, he worked in the Phoenix area in the defense industry for a couple of years and then took a job in the Verde Valley.

Norela and Herald were married in 1992 and, besides running their manufacturing business, they operated Bent River Ranch off and on, growing primarily Alfalfa hay.

Norela and Herald are slowly exiting the manufacturing business and have started the process of evolving Bent River Ranch into a sustainable farming business using permaculture principles, providing locally grown, healthy food for our neighbors and friends.

“I love farming and working with the land and believe the direction we are taking our farm will be good for our family and our community.”