A New Farm’s Growing Troubles

For almost a year, the three partners who own Conejo Ranch have struggled to earn a living from their new plot of farmland outside Camarillo. Their prospects looked decent. But then a series of summertime blows knocked them down--and hope now seems a luxury. Federal officials have launched an unexpected investigation to see if the partners illegally destroyed a wetland to create their field--a probe that could cost them the farm. In the fifth article in a series following the first year of Conejo Ranch. The Times details the new crisis and other setbacks.