This year’s Organic Grower Summit (OGS) in Monterey, California honored Arnott Duncan, founder of Duncan Family Farms and CCOF certified client, as the 2025 Organic Grower of the Year. The award celebrates Duncan’s commitment to organic for more than 30 years as he has grown from a small-scale agritourism operator to an organic farming innovator managing 3,850 acres across three states.
Duncan’s impressive path began with an unexpected discovery. In the early 1990s, he and his wife Kathleen operated a farm stand and petting zoo in Goodyear, Arizona, drawing 30,000 children each year. He and his wife routinely disposed of the daily waste generated by the animals by adding it to their garden.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but it was compost,” Duncan recalled. When his family used the material in their garden, he was stunned by the results. “It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The colors were so vibrant and the texture was incredible. You couldn’t see any more perfect growth, and the flavor and texture – everything was fantastic.”
That eye-opening (and mouth-watering) moment sparked Duncan’s dedication to soil health and organic methods of production. He shifted his entire operation to organic and earned full certification in 1994.
“Duncan has built a reputation as an innovative leader who champions compost-based soil health,” said Matt Jungmann, senior director of events at Farm Progress. “His nominators consistently highlighted his thoughtful approach to organic farming.”
Today, Duncan Family Farms runs one of the largest privately-operated composting facilities in the Southwest, handling 25,000 tons of material each year from feedlot manure, retailer food trimmings, and municipal green waste. With operations in Arizona, Oregon, and New York, the farm produces organic leafy greens, microgreens, herbs, melons, and specialty vegetables. Duncan’s commitment to healthy soil makes this possible.
Duncan has also been a frontrunner in water-saving innovation, employing automated soil-based greenhouse systems created with Agbotic that use 90% less water than conventional methods. His team incorporates practices such as cover cropping, minimal tillage, and laser weeding technology to build soil organic matter levels that surpass regional averages.
Duncan’s commitment to fostering a healthy ecosystem goes beyond the soil to include his community. Duncan Family Farms donates over 10,000 pounds of fresh organic produce each week to food banks. They partner with schools to offer free organic salad programs and to host educational events for emerging farmers. The farm also supplies major grocery chains including Sprouts Farmers Market and Albertsons/Safeway.
CCOF offers warm congratulations to Arnott Duncan and Duncan Family Farms for this well-deserved recognition!
