Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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them to diversify more than otherwise. “I can tell you that quite a few of the
crops we grow I wouldn't grow if we didn't have the CSA. I wouldn't be able
to sell enough of them to justify the time. But with the CSA and the better
profit margin, you can justify doing them. Growing these things helps our
local sales to the small Co-op type stores since we grow things like eggplant
or peppers or different tomatoes. Oh, a couple of years ago we tried leeks,
which are a relative of the onions, and they proved real popular.”
As he outlines his future plans to expand, he notes that the main limi-
tation is time. “As I say, we are really trying to grow the CSA. Well, a lot of
people call and ask questions in the spring, and I will come home at night
and the answering machine is full.” The busiest time is “in June when we
are still planting things and still cultivating, and I'll think, okay, we have to
start the CSA in two weeks. I have to get all of the database information to
the people who do it for me so they can get it organized and printed out
for me. There are a lot of things I need to do, and sometimes I hope it rains
so I can get it done and not feel like I should be in the fields working.” He
continues to describe crop planting and timing. “There are only so many
hours in a day. With the CSA you want to have fresh green beans throughout
the season. So you want to plant them and when they come up, plant some
more. Well, you come in the end of the day and you look out where you are
planting green beans and say, oh they are up, I have to get some new ones
planted. The tractor I need is in the wrong spot, so I have to go get that
equipment. The actual planting takes five minutes. You just go down the
field with a four-row planter. But the prep time could be a couple of hours.
By the time you get everything organized to go, it is an hour to two hours.”
And they grow over twenty-five types of vegetables, so all these activities
add up.
In terms of hired labor, they have seasonal employees (fifteen or so, at
the peak of harvesting in August) and one man who does the CSA delivery
and manages the greenhouses. They have built three greenhouses. “We have
four to five thousand square feet of greenhouse space. Well, we grow all our
own plants. It is not that we really want to, but for organic certification we
had to find certified plants, which wasn't easy. So we've been forced to build
some greenhouses. My brother manages all the help and the livestock. I do
all the crop production and all of the mechanical work. So we have a pretty
good division of labor. We are in a pretty large vegetable growing area here
in western New York, so a lot of Mexicans are heading up here because they
know there is work. So finding people hasn't been a major problem.”
New this season, the farm will employ a married couple to help with
field and office jobs. Steve thinks that having a woman in the office will
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