February 2020 - 14
It was a big change for the family.
Although Jessica had a degree in
agriculture business and Dan said the
two were prepared for the long hours,
he had previously worked in the tech
industry. The first year was a lot of
time spent outdoors putting together
irrigation systems.
" As a tech person, you can see the
Blackberry
bloom
New grower shares struggles,
successes in starting new farm
Dan and Jessica Perdue with their children Rabun, age 11; Eleanor, 9; and Thomas, 5. Photos: Perdue Blackberry Farms
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Young growers' enthusiasm and
energy for the job were shared in
January at the Southeast Regional
Fruit and Vegetable Conference in
Savannah, Georgia.
Dan and Jessica Perdue discussed
their first years of efforts in starting a
blackberry farm in Perry, Georgia, with
attendees of the caneberry education
sessions. A fledgling blackberry grower
who's been mentored by other larger
growers in the area, Perdue gave a full
picture of some of the highs and lows he
hit since they started the farm in 2015.
" I've wanted to work for myself
for a long time, but I also thought
blackberry farming was a good
opportunity to make good money, "
he said. " We had higher expectations
of revenue and income than we
should have, but you know, I don't
regret that decision. We found
mentors who could mentor us in this,
and just went from there. "
fruit of your labor pretty quickly, and
you can undo it if you don't like it and
you can do it differently pretty quickly
and pretty easily with very little cost, "
he said. " Whereas growing produce,
if you don't do something correctly
you may not know it for six or eight
months, and it's difficult to go back
and change that. "
Fruitful and brutal years
Dan Perdue started with planting
just 10 acres of Ouachita blackberries
in the red clay soil of Perry, Georgia.
The Georgia blueberry market was
found to be saturated, whereas the
blackberry market still had room for
growth. Perdue decided that Ouachita
was a good variety all-around and it's
done well for the farm. Some initial
plantings of Natchez have suffered
from over cropping, and new canes
were eaten by deer.
Perdue laid down drip irrigation fed
with well water. The plants were laid out
with a T-style trellis, rather than rotating
cross-arm trellis - which Perdue said
would have been costly to operate and
made the rows too narrow for his tractor.
THE PICKIN' IS EASY WITH THESE MACHINES
The REVO Piuma 4WD Harvester
The Munckhof Pluk-O-Trak
Increase Fruit
Quality up to 60%
Bin fi ller fi lls large
bins evenly, without
bruising fruit
Compressor
Onboard air
compressor
for pneumatic
tools
Removable
Conveyors
Leveling & Stability
Hydraulic leveling suspension.
Auto-leveling on Modular Model
Ultrasonic " Sense-O-Matic "
Steering System
Increase Pickers' Efficiency
Four (4) hydraulic picking platforms -
pick at various levels
Bin Trailer
Trailer holds up to 16 bins
Serving Growers' Needs
Since 1954
Modular Unit Push Button Controls
Call OESCO for a demonstration
of one or both machines!
800-634-5557
14 | FruitGrowersNews.com
* For apple & pear high-density fruit orchards
* Independent front & rear steering
* Compact 12'-6 " footprint
* 4-wheel drive
* Onboard compressor
* Flow-thru bin design
* Whisper-quiet fuel effi cient diesel engine
* Self-contained power - No tractor needed
* Auto-drive, auto-levelling, auto-steering
Push Button
Controls
(see below left
enlargement)
Push Button
Controls
Sort the
Fruit
Presort bin
for culls
P.O. Box 540, 8 Ashfi eld Road
Route 116, Conway, MA 01341
www.oescoinc.com
http://www.oescoinc.com
http://www.FruitGrowersNews.com
February 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020
February 2020 - 1
February 2020 - 2
February 2020 - 3
February 2020 - 4
February 2020 - 5
February 2020 - 6
February 2020 - 7
February 2020 - 8
February 2020 - 9
February 2020 - 10
February 2020 - 11
February 2020 - 12
February 2020 - 13
February 2020 - 14
February 2020 - 15
February 2020 - 16
February 2020 - 17
February 2020 - 18
February 2020 - 19
February 2020 - 20
February 2020 - 21
February 2020 - 22
February 2020 - 23
February 2020 - 24
February 2020 - 25
February 2020 - 26
February 2020 - 27
February 2020 - 28
February 2020 - 29
February 2020 - 30
February 2020 - 31
February 2020 - 32
February 2020 - 33
February 2020 - 34
February 2020 - 35
February 2020 - 36
February 2020 - 37
February 2020 - 38
February 2020 - 39
February 2020 - 40
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-fgn
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/fgn-vgn-40-under-40-class-of-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyers-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyers-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2019
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com