Vessey & Company

By David Eddy
Senior Western Editor

WHEN he was a young boy, Jon Vessey learned a valuable lesson from his father, Jackson, even if it did take a while to sink in. Young Jon would hop in his Dad's car, and they'd stop off at the various homes of ranch owners from whom the Vesseys leased land to grow vegetables in California. At each house, the elder Vessey would sit in the kitchen and shoot the breeze for an hour or so, recalled Jon, who's now in his 60s. "I remember thinking, ‘Geez, I thought Dad was busier than that.' Now I know how important that was," he says. "My Dad went out of his way to listen to people. He understood that everybody's land is the best land in the world."

With all the changes in the vegetable growing business through the years, everyone talks about the ability to adapt to change as being the key to success. That quality is certainly vital, says Vessey, but it's what has remained constant for the Vesseys that is the touchstone of triumph. While they do own their own acreage, they also lease quite a bit of land, much of it from alfalfa growers. Rotating vegetables with a crop such as alfalfa is crucial to avoid disease pressures in California's Imperial Desert, and the Vesseys generally have about 30% of the 10,000 acres they farm in alfalfa, with the rest a mix of about 20 to 25 vegetable crops. "The business has certainly become more corporate - we aren't a little family farm anymore," says Vessey. "But one thing hasn't changed: Give people the ranch back in better shape than we found it."

The Vessey legacy dates back to 1923, when Jon's grandfather Elton began shipping iceberg lettuce. It was a simpler time, in that the diversity of crops, and the packaging, stayed pretty much the same. "You packed lettuce into a wooden crate, and that was it," says Vessey, who recalls his Dad telling him how they would pack lettuce in parchment paper to ship it overseas for the troops in World War II.

Things didn't change much until his father's time, when they began field-packing in the 1950s. That was also the start of the year-round lettuce business, which meant the Vesseys planted and harvested lettuce all over California - Jon was actually born and raised in Salinas - and parts of Arizona. But because it had become a year-round supply business, it was a game for the big boys. United Brands (Chiquita) came in during that time and bought out many of the lettuce growers, Vessey included, and the family headed back down to the Imperial Valley. At the time, Jackson Vessey gave Jon a valuable lesson. "Son, you don't have to plant only lettuce," Vessey recalls.

Vessey has taken those words to heart. In fact, last year they planted more red cabbage than they did lettuce. As Vessey explains, they have tailored their operations to the wants and needs of the American consumer, who desires fresh-cut salads. "We are the furnishers of raw materials for salad plants," says Vessey matter-of-factly. "If someone says ‘We need endive for this salad,' we say we can deliver it for so many cents per pound."

While what they grow and the way they grow it may have changed, the family's overriding philosophy has not. That philosophy of listening to people extends to volunteer work. His father served on the board of Western Growers, and so did Vessey himself, for 20-plus years. Vessey's son, 31-year-old Jack, has picked up the baton, serving not only as president of the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association, but also on the local hospital foundation board. "My Dad felt it was important to become involved not only in industry, but the community," says Vessey proudly.

About the only regret he has, and it's one he shares with his son, is that because their operation has become so big it requires a great deal of oversight. That means spending nearly all their time in the office, and away from the land. "I miss not being able to go out to the ranch all the time," says Vessey, who confesses that he and his son do slip out of the office from time to time. "You have to go out to there to keep your sanity." AVG

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JON Vessey didn’t follow his father’s advice early last month, and it makes him upset just talking about it. He wanted to heed his father’s wisdom, but there wasn’t a thing he could do. Vessey had 900 acres of cabbage to harvest where he farms in California’s Imperial Desert. He not only already had a contract for it, but it was an attractive $10-a-box market ($7 is break-even). But Vessey didn’t have enough people to harvest it all.

"My Dad always told me that when God almighty gives you a market, take advantage of it,” says Vessey wistfully. “And we can’t take advantage of it.”

While many growers struggled to get enough workers this past year, the problems have been particularly acute this winter in the deserts of Southern California and Arizona, the nation’s winter salad bowl. On the day AVG caught up with him in early January, Vessey said he was short 125 people that day. He’s not sure what to do about it. He already pays pretty good money, a piece-rate equivalent of about $10 to $13 an hour. He’s talked to his elected representatives. In fact, he and his son Jack took about a half-dozen trips back to Washington, DC, in 2006 to lobby legislators. He always gets the same arguments. “They all say they’re afraid of terrorists,” says Vessey, “and then they say that there’s 12% unemployment in Imperial County.”

On the first point, Vessey thinks that a guestworker program, in which passes are only issued after thorough background checks, would take care of that.

On the second point, Vessey sighs audibly. “We asked the EDD (state Employment Development Department) for 300 broccoli workers — at above minimum wage — and we got one application,” Vessey thundered.

Vessey’s not so worried about that cabbage. He’ll take care of that. “We’ll harvest it next year because we’ll harvest it mechanically,” he says. “We have to.”

But the overall picture is troubling indeed. Vessey says growers need to pick up the pace in their lobbying efforts before it’s too late. “We’ve got to get Congress to understand that we don’t have enough documented workers, people who just want to earn a good honest living,” he said. “If we don’t, we’ll end up relying on a foreign source of food, just like we do for oil.”

Direct questions or comments about this article to deddy@meistermedia.com

The orginal article can be seen here: http://www.americanvegetablegrower.com/100_anniversary/200702_pioneers.html