On today’s episode of the AgNet News Hour, Brian Van Groningen of Van Groningen & Sons returned for Part 2 of the conversation about the family’s nearly 100-year farming operation in Manteca and how innovation is helping keep a longtime California agricultural tradition moving forward.
With pumpkin season underway, the family’s pumpkin patch is open with as many as 80 varieties of pumpkins and decorative gourds, including some experimental varieties that aren’t offered commercially. The operation markets its pumpkins under the Pampered Farms label and has even added painted pumpkins as another way to stand out in a crowded retail marketplace.
That focus on marketing has become increasingly important as California growers face competition from neighboring states. Van Groningen said pumpkins from Washington and Oregon have been entering the California market, where growers from those states can benefit from lower labor and fuel costs.
“When our costs are higher than maybe our neighboring states, then the neighboring states start being able to find avenues of ways to get their product into a California marketplace,” Van Groningen said.
Finding something different for consumers is one way the farm competes. Van Groningen & Sons dedicates a few acres each year to testing new pumpkin varieties supplied by seed companies. Promising varieties are then shown to retailers, allowing the farm, seed companies and stores to work together on products that could distinguish themselves in the produce department.
Part 2 also looks beyond pumpkin production to the farm’s connection with the next generation of agriculture. Van Groningen discussed his involvement with FFA and agricultural education, including opportunities for students to visit the farm. Through California Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom program, the operation has participated in a virtual field trip that reached as many as 20,000 students in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
After nearly 95 years of farming, Van Groningen said the fundamentals of growing crops remain familiar, even as mechanization, crop protection and production practices continue to evolve.
For a family operation approaching its centennial, the combination of tradition and willingness to adapt continues to shape what comes next.
Listen to Part 2 of the full interview below or on your favorite podcast app.
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