CASE STUDY
“This has changed the way we move around the land.”
Apricot Lane Farms was founded in 2011 by John and Molly Chester, and today spans 234 acres of countryside in Moorpark, California, just 40 miles north of Los Angeles. It grows more than 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables, alongside rearing sheep, cows, pigs, chickens and ducks with care and respect. The farm is certified organic and biodynamic.
Apricot Lane Farms is also the home of the award-winning, critically acclaimed feature documentary The Biggest Little Farm, which was released in North America in 2019, and has since screened in more than 275 theatres across the USA and 20 counties worldwide.
Directed by filmmaker-turned-farmer John, the documentary follows the couple and their dog Todd on an epic journey to farm within an awakening ecosystem. When the two first purchased Apricot Lane, the land had been farmed extractively for 50 years, leaving the soil arid and almost completely devoid of life. Guided by their farming mentor Alan York, and fuelled by Molly’s tireless optimism and tenacity, Molly and John began their journey to regeneration, bringing life, nutrients, and biodiversity back to the land.
As proponents of regenerative agriculture, the electric farming revolution was something Apricot Lane has focussed on since the beginning.
UBCO initially approached Apricot Lane to discuss trialling its 2X2 electric motorbikes across the farm as a general-purpose utility bike. The product proved so versatile the team now operates a small fleet across the site, which John is planning to expand to reduce usage of four-wheeled off-road vehicles on the farm.
“What initially attracted me to the UBCO bikes is that they’re super rugged,” says John. “The bike and battery parts are designed to be disassembled, reused or recycled when required, and the regenerative braking and clever battery management systems improve energy efficiency. They’re also more powerful and quieter than other electric bikes I’ve tried. Having both front and back tires motorised creates a much safer feeling when you’re riding the very diverse types of terrain we encounter here.”
One of John’s concerns about using an electric vehicle was battery life, as well as how the bike would hold up in challenging conditions. However, he was pleasantly surprised on both counts.
“The bikes have a super long range and plenty of power — and they really are rugged enough to get beat up the way many of our vehicles and tools do. I was impressed with how they got us around during recent historic rain events. I’ve driven over piles of loose brush that are two or three feet tall and the thing keeps chugging straight through. With a truck, it would’ve slowed the day down but with the UBCO, I’ve been able to manoeuvre around and keep the day moving forward.”
One of the features that stood out was how the bike was designed with lug points across the frame for attaching and transporting different kinds of equipment, he says. “The real kicker for us is being able to bolt on almost anything — we can haul anything from a few rolls of electric fence to a shovel, even a feed bucket or two, which makes quick trips way easier.”
When it comes to the animals — both domesticated and wild — who are a crucial part of the farm, John has even been able to track wildlife on an UBCO without alerting the animals to their presence, allowing the team to determine migratory patterns within the ecosystem of the farm.
“The UBCOs have really changed how we move around the land and farm,” says John. “One way we’ve been using them is to mitigate soil compaction in our orchards when checking irrigation leaks. Instead of riding a quad or a larger vehicle over our beautiful soil, now it’s just a single track, and manoeuvres a lot better on those uneven ground. It’s also far easier to get across pastures and check regrowth after grazing, allowing me to assess larger areas and see what’s really going on out there.”