Orchards, farms reap benefits in fall harvest

|tab|

by Jennifer Brown|ret||ret||tab|

SBJ Reporter|ret||ret||tab|

jbrown@sbj.net|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

For local farm and orchard operations, harvest time is the payoff for a large investment of time, effort and dollars they spent during the rest of the year. |ret||ret||tab|

Pumpkins|ret||ret||tab|

"My wife and I both enjoy October with all the people here; that's what makes it all worthwhile. (It's) rewarding, and I am not talking monetarily," said Ted Jones, owner of Jones Farm. The farm is located off County Road 102, north of I-44, and its pumpkin patch opens to visitors Sept. 27. |ret||ret||tab|

Jones Farm, established in 1967, was originally owned and operated by Thayer Jones Sr. as a pick-your-own strawberry patch. His son Ted Jones took over operations in 1987 and changed it to a pick-your-own pumpkin patch.|ret||ret||tab|

"The first three years we were here we had tremendous rains in strawberry season, and we lost a good percentage of the crop," Jones said. This same loss occurred three years in a row, making a loss of "many, many thousands (of dollars)," Jones said. "There's an awful lot of investment in strawberries, an awful lot of time, an awful lot of money and you can lose (the strawberries) in the last two weeks."|ret||ret||tab|

Jones takes most of the year to prepare for his fall program with land clearing beginning in the spring. Jones said he does snow removal in the winter for a second income. By spring it is time to start clearing land. In May and June, Jones plants mums and pumpkin seeds. Jones raises four to eight acres of pumpkins a year. About half of the farm's sales are from pumpkins grown on site. Approximately 150,000 pounds of pumpkin are brought in from other parts of the United States to sell.|ret||ret||tab|

"We cannot produce as many pumpkins as we sell simply because we do not have the water for irrigation; we can produce some, but beyond that we have to bring them in," Jones said.|ret||ret||tab|

Irrigation costs also limit the number of pumpkins grown locally. Jones said he spends $6,000 to $8,000 on watering during the growing season. This cost includes actual water, electricity and labor. |ret||ret||tab|

"Watering is probably our single most expensive item," Jones said. "We have a well running 24 hours a day in the summertime. Along with that we also haul water in (from City Utilities) on a truck 2,500 gallons at a time, sometimes on a given day we haul in 15,000 gallons of water."|ret||ret||tab|

Budgeting for this expense and expecting a dry period is crucial for the business' success.|ret||ret||tab|

"It is a given that you are going to get a dry period sometimes. What you don't know is to what it extent it is going to be. This summer we had a month period of time when it was extremely hot and we didn't get any precipitation, but if you subtracted that out it was probably one of the easier summers," Jones said.|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Apples |ret||ret||tab|

For an orchard to be successful it must bear fruit, meaning that old trees must be replaced with new trees and young trees must receive tremendous care. |ret||ret||tab|

David Murphy, owner of Murphy's Orchards, located at 255 N. U.S. Highway 60, Marionville, and 17135 U.S. Highway 60, Seymour, said trees cost between $7 and $9 each. Additional cost for planting of up to $10 per tree and irrigation cost of $1,000 for drip-line irrigation are added into planting costs. Murphy said there is no way to predict when trees will need to be replaced. |ret||ret||tab|

"We try to predict, but predicting Mother Nature, it is hard," Jones said "(This year) we lost about 80 trees in the wind storms and tornados."|ret||ret||tab|

Murphy has 140 acres of peach and apple trees. Each year the orchard produces approximately 8,500 bushels of apples and 8,500 bushels of peaches. Murphy said in addition to these items he grows 1,500 tomato plants, three acres of grapes and 6,000 pumpkins. His market also sells local jellies, pecans and locally grown vegetables. |ret||ret||tab|

Nearly 2,500 trees on 25 acres make up the Herndon Orchard, 24773 Highway 60, Marionville, which has been in existence for 57 years. Finis Carver first purchased the existing orchard in 1946, and in 1972 Carver's daughter Sara Herndon and husband Bob Herndon took over ownership.|ret||ret||tab|

Sara Herndon said protecting the trees from weather and insects is costly.|ret||ret||tab|

"This year we spent over $12,000 on chemicals in the orchard," Herndon said. "In the fall you prune, and this year we spent about $6,000 pruning and did a lot of the work ourselves."|ret||ret||tab|

Protection from diseases and insects requires additional sprays, particularly in Missouri. Michele Warmund, state fruit specialist, said the Midwest is perfect for insects.|ret||ret||tab|

"We have a very heavy disease pressure because of our high humidity," Warmund said. "We're trying very hard to minimize the amount of pesticides that are being used out in the orchard but, unfortunately, because of the disease and the insect pressure that we have in this state, it's really tough to grow apples organically." |ret||ret||tab|

Murphy said last year he spent $60,000 on protective chemicals and expects to spend more in the future.|ret||ret||tab|

"Chemicals are always increasing. They come up with new chemicals, but they are half as good and cost twice as much," Jones said. |ret||ret||tab|

Weather also plays a factor in orchard growth. Spring storms and summer droughts can decrease the size of sellable crops. Warmund said drought periods are to be expected, but extra rain and wind during a spring pollination period can be more damaging.|ret||ret||tab|

Water for an orchard comes through irrigation and manual watering. Herndon said water from the well helps keep water cost low, but it is still expensive when utility cost is added in. |ret||ret||tab|

"Last month I believe our utility bill was $700," Sara Herndon said. Utility expenses are for running refrigeration coolers and apple sorting machinery. |ret||ret||tab|

The larger the orchard, the greater the expenses, Murphy said. With a cooler and five wells, Murphy's electric bill can range from $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the temperature. |ret||ret||tab|

However, this cost is not as large as the labor cost of $100,000 for pickers, sorters and retail workers. Murphy said he employs more than 20 people a year; Herndon employees six to eight people for the season.|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Making up the difference|ret||ret||tab|

Murphy said orchard and retail sales over the years have been good for his family and have solely supported the orchard. However, in other cases farmers look for alternative ways to gain revenue. The Herndons also operate a cattle farm to cover expenses. Bob Wiles, owner of Wiles Orchard, 20642 Lawrence 1240, southeast of Marionville, said retirement from the U.S. Postal Service allowed him to run the orchard full time. |ret||ret||tab|

Sunshine Valley Farm, located 6 1/2 miles east of Springfield at the intersection of highways AD and 125, is owned by Michael and Jan Wooten. Jan Wooten said they established a restaurant to help with the cost of operations. |ret||ret||tab|

"We knew when we put in the orchard that we were going to have some kind of value-added something. We didn't know what it was going to be when we first planted things," Jan Wooten said. When the orchard first started, Michael Wooten worked full-time as a physician at St. John's Hospital. |ret||ret||tab|

Jan Wooten said the orchard will be come more reliant on its earnings as Wooten retires from the health care industry completely; currently he operates one clinic a week. |ret||ret||tab|

The restaurant first developed a bakery seven years ago, and then became a full-service lunch restaurant six years ago. Now the restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday and caters to a variety of customers and groups. |ret||ret||tab|

"We used to think that at one point the bakery, the fruit and restaurant were sort of each contributing a third, but now the restaurant is far out-stripping the other two in terms of income generated," Wooten said. She said the restaurant generates about half of the farm's revenue.|ret||ret||tab|

School tours and entertainment are becoming popular ways to gain additional revenue.|ret||ret||tab|

Sunshine Valley offer school tours for $1.75 per student, which are booked up four days a week in September and October, Wooten said. |ret||ret||tab|

Jones Farm has capitalized on this idea and has turned his farm into a field of entertainments, including mazes, teepees and entertainers.|ret||ret||tab|

"We offer a lot of entertainment, and when they come out here, they are not just coming out here to buy a pumpkin. They're coming out for the entertainment," Jones said.|ret||ret||tab|

Jones said his count of October visitors was more than 30,000 people in 2001. Of these 30,000, approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people visit the farm on special field trips. Jones Farm specifically markets to schools. About 10 percent of its field trip groups are new and the rest are returning groups. |ret||ret||tab|

During these field trips, children pay $2.50 for a trailer ride to the pumpkin patch. At the end of the trip, children can select two small items to take home; they also can enjoy activities at the farm.|ret||ret||tab|

Jones said he spends around $10,000 a year advertising for the farm and said that the entertainment value of his farm comes with a price tag.|ret||ret||tab|

"With all that, we charge extra for the pumpkins. In other words, if someone wants to just buy a pumpkin, they would be better off just going to Wal-Mart," Jones said.|ret||ret||tab|

In addition to pumpkins the farm specializes in mums, some of which "may be the largest in the state," Jones said. The farm sells around 4,000 mums each year, which range from $8 to $13. |ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]