Partnering keeps farms thriving during down times
Sunglasses and a hat were essential for U.S. Rep. John Hall”™s recent visit to the Black Dirt region of Orange County, where onions eaten across the U.S. are grown.
Hall could not have chosen a better place to visit: Pawelski Farm in Pine Island, where Chris Pawelski and his parents, along with his brother, have been farming in the region of southern Orange county for four generations.
Chris Pawelski also knows how to handle the media as well as he does a tractor: he went to school for broadcast journalism, but eventually came back to farm the land with his parents. “It”™s home,” said Pawelski, standing on the gravel road waiting for Hall to arrive. “My brother, Brian, works for an Asian equity firm, but he still comes back every year to help us with the planting. I can”™t explain it; it”™s just something that gets in your blood.”
“We were very fortunate last year,” said Chris Pawelski. “It didn”™t rain too much, it didn”™t rain too little and we got a very good price, averaging about 20 cents per pound for our crop.” While it may seem a paltry sum to Wall Street traders, it adds up when you”™re planting nearly 100 acres of onions and harvesting tens of thousands. “New York is the sixth in the nation in growing onions,” said Pawelski, “and most of them come from here and the Finger Lakes area.”
Pawelski attributed last year”™s high prices to the fuel crisis: “Wholesalers were buying closer to home, and the crash of the dollar made imports more expensive than locally grown products.” On average, the Pawelskis realize approximately 12 cents to 15 cents per pound for their bounty.
The fine black soil in southern Orange County is just right for growing onions and other crops, the place where Pawelski”™s grandfather was brought from Poland by the Catholic Church and given 40 acres to farm, along with dozens of other families. The descendants of these original Eastern European farmers have remained a strong, close-knit community, despite Blackberrys, 24/7 news and an increasingly difficult economic market. When it comes to diversification in order to stay in business, neighbors have found a way to keep their livelihood in existence.
Currently, the Pawelski family is planting 99 acres of onions, nearly 15 different varieties of the eye-watering crop, and eight acres of butternut squash. The squash planting is done in partnership with neighbors Ray and Gary Glowczewski of R&G Produce. “While Ray and Gary grow many vegetables for the retail market, they didn”™t have enough acreage to dedicate solely to their butternut squash crop for wholesaling. So we are helping each other out. This scenario doesn”™t work for everyone, and diversification doesn”™t work for everyone, but in our case, it”™s been a mutually beneficial arrangement,” said Pawelski.
The Glowczewskis plant their squash at the same time the Pawelskis plant their onions. The Pawelskis spray, weed and maintain all the crops until they are ready for harvest. Then, R&G provides the Pawelskis a predetermined portion of the proceeds after the sale.
In partnering, the farmers have developed closer working relationship, essential for the industry if it is to keep thriving in the region. “We”™re all in this together,” said Ray Glowczewski. “Chris and his family have been wonderful to work with; and it”™s been a good situation for both of us. We talk to each other, and that brings families closer together, that”™s an essential in this day and age and in what we are facing as an industry.” He”™s not just talking about dwindling funding for farmers or for their needs, but counting on the weather, the wind and the bugs not to wreak havoc on the fields.
When the tiny onion seeds are planted, barley is planted on the black dirt to keep it in place until the onions take root. “Wind is one of our biggest obstacles,” said Pawelski. “The black dirt is so fine, one good windstorm and you can see half your land literally blowing in the wind.” Once the barley is cut down and the onions and now squash start growing, the never-ending chore of battling bugs, maggots, onion smut and gophers begins. Yes, farmers do use pesticides, “but gingerly,” said Pawelski. “We”™re very mindful of keeping them to a minimum but they are necessary. It”™s not possible to feed six billion people without using them to keep crops from being destroyed.”
While Hall toured Pawelski”™s farm and took a ride on the tractor as the onion seeds were being planted, he was able to take stock in just a part of the sweat equity and labor that goes into the industry.
Hall has been working to develop legislation for a new soil conservation for muck farms. While the $250 million program he proposed did not survive the 2008 Farm Bill, Hall assured Pawelski that he intends to keep working to help the farming community in New York and get money to the region”™s farmers and hopes to bring more aid to farmers in 2009.
“Most people don”™t think of New York as an agricultural state,” said Hall, “but farming is one of our biggest industries.” Hall is also a staunch proponent of “buying local … and I”™d like to see our supermarkets carry more local products.”
While farming may not be Hall”™s vocation, getting to know what his constituents need is a mandatory requirement of his job. “You can”™t know how to serve the people unless you know what they are doing and the challenges they face. That”™s why I”™m glad Chris is such a strong advocate for the farming industry here in the Black Dirt region and for our state. He”™s really educated everyone on the needs of our local farmers.”
Right now, their biggest obstacle, aside from dealing with the unpredictable behavior of Mother Nature, is the rising cost of seed and fertilizer. “Everything”™s gone up, and we”™re trying to make the best of it; if anything good can be said about our current economic crisis, more people are eating at home and buying food locally,” said Pawelski. “To say the least, staying in business is a balancing act,” one the Pawelski family has been managing for four generations. Now, in partnering with his neighbor, Pawelski says farmers who need to diversify and who can work out an equitable arrangement with a neighboring farmer may find it”™s the best way to keep their industry going and growing.
Unlike the bulk of today”™s business dealings, where lawyers and stacks of paperwork come part and parcel with agreements, Pawelski and Glowczewski have sealed their deal with a handshake, a tradition that still remains strong among farmers.