We presently farm roughly 57 different varieties of citrus on the ranch. Its ALL organically grown. That word "Organic" not insures the consumer that what they are putting in their bodies is clean and free of harmful chemicals and pesticides but also brings a higher price to the grower.
Its not easy. Organic farming, well... I guess farming period these days is fraught not only with mother nature trying to head you of at every turn but the legislative and regulatory requirements set forth are extremely daunting.
I'm starting to get a handle on operations. We have very capable staff that read the land, the fruit and the trees like books and act quickly to insure healthy trees and good wholesome crops. The owner, my new mentor, has been farming most of his life. A former school teacher in the sixties, he started farming roughly 35 years ago and is a walking encyclopedia of useful knowledge. He is sixty-eight now and needs to slow down... enter me stage left. I'm a semi-retired ex newspaper publisher and master of a little bit of everything, well master of just enough to be dangerous I guess.
Last week several of our customers alerted us that down the road they would be requiring us to have a Food Safety Program online and operational that met USDA and Canada GAP guidelines. So thats my new main project for the next several months. It's a HUGE task but at the end of it I'm convinced the farm will be positioned to set the pace for other growers our size. Also by being a smaller operation we will be able to move quicker, be more proactive and be able, I hope, to implement our program - go through the necessary inspections - and receive our certification in four-to five months.
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