June 2020 - 19

GROWER'S POSTCARD
Vegetable growers describe 'new normal' under COVID-19
SAM OSCHWALD
TILTON
rcvcfarm@gmail.com
Hello dear reader,
I hope the heady rush of the first blush
of the growing season has worn away
into a satisfying rhythm. I have been
tending my lakeside garlic patch and
small beds of spring vegetables. And also
making time to build weeding tools at
my friend's farm. Also, as you can see, I
changed my name; my wife Julia and I
were married in early May.
In early April, when this COVID-19
set in, and then again in early May, and
I chatted with vegetable growers in my
neck of the woods to see how they were
adapting to the " new normal. " And in
this postcard I'd like to share with you
how life has been for these vegetable
growers in the time of Corona. Let me
give some brief introductions:
Liz Graznak, a fresh market grower
outside of Columbia, Missouri, who
grows for her CSA (Community
Supported Agriculture), farmers' market
and some restaurants.
Ryan Romeyn, up near the top of the
mitten in Grand Traverse, Michigan.
Ryan grows for his CSA, on-farm store
and wholesale.
Jared Oomen is in the Asparagus
Kingdom of Oceana, Michigan. He and
his family grow conventional and organic
vegetables, mostly for processing.
And then of course ol' checkmate
Bishop down in central Illinois, who
with his wife Katie grows for market,
CSA and wholesale.
Finally, Paul Huber in Madison,
Wisconsin, who grows intensively on
three acres.
Markets
Across the board, growers have seen
restaurant accounts go to zero overnight.
While farmers' markets have generally
remained open, the social distancing
rules have kept customers away and
driven down sales. For Liz Graznak in
Missouri, although the occupancy of the
building housing her year-round market
is 10,000 people, only 67 customers are
now allowed in at a time. This has created
long lines and diminished sales so much
that Liz has considered not attending.
But she decided that even though not
monetarily worth it, she would continue
selling in order to keep her clientele.
Liz expressed frustration that the local
grocery stores do not have curtailed
occupancies, and the result is that it is
much easier for customers to shop at
the grocery store than wait in line to
get into the market. She is concerned
that as a result people will get out of the
habit of shopping at her farmers' market,
lowering attendance long-term.
Coronavirus needs a 6-foot social-distance, making it difficult for asparagus pickers.
Although every grower reported
abysmal market sales, overall sales
have increased by a large margin. The
Oomens are used to competing with
cheap asparagus from Peru. But with new
coronavirus, there is no air freight coming
up from Peru. The result is that prices
have risen, and California, a traditional
competitor, is now buying Michigan
asparagus. CSA shares have gone through
the roof for all. Customers want a secure
source of food and they want to know it is
clean. Online ordering and home delivery
have also shot up. Many growers are taking
online orders and then bringing them for
pick-up at the farmers' market.
Liz Graznak happened to be well
prepared to pivot to online ordering
and is doing well. Whereas, Hans
Bishop expressed frustration, " I don't
have good systems right now for online
ordering. I am doing it but I haven't
spent the time getting it right. The
problem is the uncertainty - if I knew
the current situation would last for a
while then I would spend the time and
money getting online ordering right,
but right now, not knowing how long
this will last, we're just getting along
okay with an ad-hoc system. "
Labor
When I spoke to growers in early
April, they were all very concerned
about whether their seasonal labor
would arrive. Eventually everyone's
help came - Ryan Romeyn and Jared
Oomen's seasonal workers from Florida
and Hans' H-2A helpers from Mexico.
Hans says there is only one Mexican
consulate processing H-2A right
now, which means all the laborers are
funneled through Monterrey, Mexico.
To be safe, when Hans' worker arrived,
he had them quarantine themselves for
two weeks in the nearby trailer park. Liz
Graznak had been selling to restaurants
for years and knew many people in the
industry. When the restaurants shut
down several out-of-work waiters and
chefs called on her asking for part-time
work. With the big increase in orders,
she has been planting more than she
planned, and the extra help has fit in well
to her labor schedule.
Sanitation
In a cruel twist of fate, most asparagus
in Oceana County is planted in rows
5 feet apart, but dang if coronavirus
needs a 6-foot social-distance. Jared
Oomen is waiting to see if there will
be additional state regulations for their
farm workers. If so, many things will
change in how they get work done; if
workers need to stay 6 feet apart they
can fit half as many people on the
asparagus harvesters, which he reckons
would reduce the grass harvest by a
third. Similarly, the number of people
who could stay in a house or ride in
buses to fields would be cut by about
a quarter, and this would have a huge
effect on productivity and labor costs.
The Oomens' big worry, though, is
the processing plants. You have already
seen meat processing plants shut down
around the country, and if the vegetable
processing plants shut down for sanitary
reasons or cannot find workers, it could
be catastrophic to their operation.
Already, a shipment of carrots coming
from Georgia in April had to be rerouted
because of a closed processor.
Paul " by the book " Huber is earning
his moniker, and has been proactive
with sanitation on the farm. All workers
wear masks throughout the day: " I didn't
want to make mask-wearing conditional
because then you have to think when to
take the mask off and put it on, and on a
small farm tasks can change so quickly. "
Workers have generally been
understanding. They were already washing
hands on arrival at the farm and after
eating and using the restroom. But now
they sanitize tools between use, and each
worker sanitizes their tool at the end of
the day. Also, at the end of each day, a
manager sanitizes all high-touch areas such
as handles and water spigots. Paul asks
workers to take their temperature each
morning, following the procedures from the
Centers for Disease Control. Other growers
are wearing masks only in packing areas.
Well, dear reader, I hope the
experiences and insights of these veteran
growers have given you some good ideas
and some fellowship. There is a lot more
these growers shared, but it will have to
wait for another column. You have my
best wishes as you continue to chart a
course through this Corona season.
Yours,
Sam VGN
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June 2020

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