Vegetable Growers News

Extension is Losing Money, but it’s not Losing Relevance

The story about Penn State Cooperative Extension on the front page of this magazine is the seventh in a series I’ve been writing for more than a year. It’s also the last profile I’ll write about Extension services in a particular state. This magazine will continue to cover Extension activities from other angles, of course, since those activities are a primary source of information for people who live and breathe agriculture. But after profiling the state of Extension (as far as it pertains to commercial fruit and vegetable growers) in Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Washington, California and Pennsylvania – and writing a story about federal funding – I’m starting to feel like I’m repeating myself. The feeling of repetition probably comes from a few general trends that are noticeable to anyone who has bothered to study Extension funding in the last few decades: federal funds are…  » Read more

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Extension Losing a Personal Touch in Pennsylvania

This is the seventh story in a series about the future of Extension. The image of the county Extension agent riding in a pickup all day, visiting local farmers and doling out general advice, doesn’t apply any more. Nowadays, he (or she) more than likely is sitting in front of a computer, searching the Internet, reading and writing e-mails, perusing digital pictures and talking to growers on the phone. A consolidating industry, advances in technology and, of course, budget cuts have led to the new image of the county Extension agent (now commonly referred to as an educator). “It used to be the Extension guy was the only person growers would talk to,” said Matt Harsh, ag economic development educator in Adams County, Pa. “Now, there are a lot of other information sources out there.” The story is the same in Pennsylvania as in other states. Stagnant state and…  » Read more

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Michigan Green Bean Broker a Vegetable Industry Leader

You’ve heard about people who don’t know beans. Vic Shank is not one of those. Not only is he the president of the Michigan Vegetable Council, a leadership position in which knowing about vegetable industry issues and concerns is important, he runs a business that is all about green beans. Each year, Central Produce Sales, the Dowagiac, Mich., company he owns and operates with his father, Bill, arranges for the production and delivery of 8,000 to 11,000 acres of green beans to processors who can or freeze them. They’ve been doing that in Michigan since 1983, ever since they moved their activities from Arkansas. Bill, now 71 and still active in the business, brokered green beans there long before his son joined the business. “I’ve been wading in green bean fields since I was knee high,” Vic said. With about two weeks left in the green bean season,…  » Read more

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Next Generation Builds on Family Heritage

Like many young vegetable growers, Martin Jefferson faces challenges. Competition from imported food is one of them. So is trying to educate the public about agricultural issues. And when the time comes for Martin and two of his cousins to inherit the farm, they will face a whole new set of challenges. His family farm, Martin Jefferson & Sons, is named after his grandfather. It currently is owned and operated by his father, Benny, and his uncles Allan and Jay. The Jefferson family has been farming on the 400-acre home ranch near Salinas, Calif., since 1863. All told, they farm almost 2,000 acres in multiple locations throughout the Salinas Valley, where they grow head lettuce, romaine and other leaf lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, anise, spinach and artichokes. Martin said the Salinas growing season allows for two and sometimes three crop cycles per year. Martin, 29, is…  » Read more

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Young Vegetable Growers Ponder Their Futures

The Vegetable Growers News sought the opinions of young vegetable growers to get their perspective on the future of the industry – and their own future aspirations. Paul Ruszkiewicz, 31, is a fourth-generation onion grower in Orange County, N.Y. He farms in partnership with his father, John. They grow 180 acres of onions on muck soil in the town of Pine Island. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two young children. Ruszkiewicz is chairman of the Wallkill Valley Drainage Improvement Association and New York Onion Industry Council, vice president of the Orange County Vegetable Growers Association and on the boards of the New York State Vegetable Growers Association and Orange County Farm Bureau. Jasen Tubbs, 18, farms in Wayne City, Ill. He rents land, but also works on the farm of his parents, Fred and Noelene Tubbs. He grows pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn, among other crops.…  » Read more

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