January 2020 - 9

Sakata Farms grows pinto beans,
onions, grain corn, silage corn and
winter wheat. Robert made the
difficult and emotional decision in
2018 to quit growing sweet corn
when finding seasonal labor became
too expensive. He since has focused
on onions and is able to keep a fulltime
farm staff employed year-round
between growing and grading the
red, white and yellow storage onions.
Each year, he stops irrigation for a
month to " field-cure " the onions, and
after the harvest finishes in October, the
team starts up the grading operation.
The team then begins grading, packing
and shipping onions each day.
" We're not huge - we maybe ship
our three or four loads per day, "
Sakata said. " Normally we have
enough onions that if we market a
couple loads of onions a day, we'll
be done with our onions in February
or March, and that's perfect timing
because that's when we're back out in
the field again. "
Waterworks
Robert Sakata has devoted
countless hours to serving on the
leadership of industry groups. The
current president of the Colorado
Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Association, he's a member of many
different water groups and served for
15 years on Colorado's Water Quality
Control Commission.
Water access is a top challenge for
many Colorado growers - second
only to labor. The average rainfall
in Colorado is about 10 inches a
year, he said. Expanding municipal
water systems by retiring farmers'
senior water rights often enough that
growers have a term for it: " Buy and
dry. " Without irrigation, some of these
lands can't be commercially farmed.
" I have to give Gov. John Hickenlooper
credit, he decided we really need to
try to have a state-wide water plan, "
Sakata said. " When that water plan was
developed, it really highlighted that
by the year 2050, over half a million
irrigated acres in Colorado could be
dried up as that water moves from
farms to cities. And I think that was
really eye-opening to a lot of people.
The public, in general, said, 'Do we
really want this?' Let's try to find ways
that we can minimize that ... are there
some alternative approaches that we can
use that would work for the farming
communities as well as the cities?' "
A story to tell
As a leader in Colorado
agriculture, Robert Sakata has
become a believer that growers need
to be able to tell their own story.
Public perception isn't always
favorable. Political powers don't
always understand farming.
" It just goes back to the importance
of farmers being willing to open
their doors to tell their story about
what's going on, " he said. " I think
so many times legislators have good
intentions; they just don't understand
the unintended consequences of their
actions that they're taking. It's on our
BAYHORSE GOLD
part to be participating to let them
know what those (consequences)
might be. "
Growers also need to keep talking
to each other. He hopes the Colorado
Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Association can do more farm-tofarm
tours in the future.
" I think we should be proud
of what we're doing, " he said.
" Everybody's location is different; we
all do things differently. "
Growers will buy a $100,000 piece
of equipment and then immediately
start cutting and welding on it
in order to customize it for their
particular farm operation, he joked.
" We're all trailblazers, " Sakata
said. VGN
Robert Sakata at work in the field. Photo: Sakata Farms
RAISING THE BAR
Bayhorse Gold is a consistent 15 to 20 pounds
that perfectly fills a 40-count bin. This powdery
mildew resistant pumpkin from Rupp delivers
dark orange fruit with solid dark green handles.
HONEYNUT
ANTHEM XR II
Honeynut is a singleserving
butternut from
PanAmerican Seed.
This is a widely adaptable
variety that offers high yields of
exceptionally sweet fruit.
Anthem XR II from Seminis
provides you with the rust
protection of Anthem XR
with the Roundup®
and BT Performance Series
traits of Anthem II in one
convenient hybrid.
tolerance
SIRIUS
Sirius is a high-quality, Crimson
Sweet striped personal size
seedless. It offers intermediate
resistance to Fusarium wilt race
1. This early maturing, Syngenta,
watermelon has globe shaped
fruit with red flesh and smallmedium
pip size.
RAISING THE BAR
IN QUALITY, FLAVOR, AND YIELD
Bringing you the best products in partnership with
PanAmerican Seed, Seminis, and Syngenta.
Visit ruppseeds.com to request or download your copy
of our 2020 catalog including 38 new products.
800-700-1199 * ruppseeds.com
VGN | JANUARY 2020 | 7
http://www.ruppseeds.com http://www.ruppseeds.com
January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020
