September 2019 - 19

NOTES FROM THE FARM
Remembering the Dust Bowl climate of the 1930s
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
every other row after rains. The clods
raised by tilling stopped blowing sand
from eroding smooth surfaces.
Went in for a heart tune-up last
July hot temperatures helped grain
crops to catch up. It is too soon to judge
the fruit. We have had peaches that look
ripe for two weeks, but remain hard,
waiting for the calendar, I guess.
Wheat harvest finished between rains
but second crop of beans remain stalled
in the planters, where they were when the
deluges began. Still, soil was too dry to
plant pumpkins, now almost too late and
too wet.
On the positive side, hay harvest was
good. We got it in between rains, even
baling our big parking lot. It had been
too wet to mow. Grass was almost two
feet high.
Wet weather that prevented proper
pest control on the fruit opened up just
enough to spray at proper times, and I
have the cleanest crop in years. Will it
last? I sure hope so.
Does anyone remember the Dust
Bowl? I do. It was in the mid-1930s. My
family lived outside Albion, Nebraska, on
what had once been a beautiful farm. We
had a horse barn and cattle barns for our
one cow, large enclosed feedlots and 320
acres of land on the eastern edge of the
Nebraska sand hills.
The big house had a self-contained
electrical system with a diesel engine in
the basement and a place for banks of
glass batteries on shelves. A wind-driven
generator stood high on a pole in the back
yard. The house had two inside bathrooms,
one downstairs and the other up. However,
by the time we moved there the batteries
month. The nurse asked if I wanted my
pulse turned down, from 90 beats to
something not so vigorous. Sure, I said,
and she pushed buttons in her laptop
screen and my heart responded. The
idea that someone can change pulse rate
by remote control is great, thanks to the
battery-controlled defibrillator planted in
my chest.
My son even manages his diabetes
this way. His phone tells him his
insulin/blood sugar is off limits. He fixes
it by telling his phone to tell a machine
in his body to feed in more insulin, and
it does. Amazing.
Our cemetery. It is not really ours but
and the upstairs toilet were gone. We used
kerosene lamps. The kitchen was bare
except for a cast iron sink.
We lived a mile from town. I could
walk to school, but I tried to hitchhike
whenever I could. That lasted until the
neighbors told on me. Can you imagine
a seven-year-old begging for rides on a
country road these days?
That year, 1937, was particularly hot
and dry. My dad planted 160 acres of
corn. It grew a foot high and stopped.
Grasshoppers appeared literally in clouds,
sometimes riding the winds high above the
ground. The government gave us poisoned
bran for bait. Chinch bugs showed up. The
way to keep them out of a field was to plow
a furrow around it. Chinch bug crawlers
could not climb up the steep side of the
furrow. Both insects played havoc with
what green crops were available.
The year started pleasantly enough.
There was enough moisture to plant
crops and the sandy soil worked well.
Then the winds came and the rains left. It
seemed as if every week there was a sand
storm. It sifted around the windows and
left piles on the sills.
Dust was coming from places that
should never been plowed. Places like
western Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and
western Nebraska began to lose millions
of tons of topsoil. It blew all the way to
the East Coast, darkening skies as it went.
The way it worked was like this: Wind
would dislodge particles of sand and send
them racing across hard-packed topsoil.
The effect was the same as running
sandpaper and the dust was just as fine.
Western farmers eventually learned to
plant crops in large strips and farm them
every other year, and to till row crops
we manage it. It sets on one corner of
the farm. The first grave is dated 1847.
Burials often are in clusters. Groups
arrived after cholera and diphtheria
swept through the neighborhoods. There
are many sad stories associated with
those 100 graves.
Anyway, several years ago I announced
to my family that we could accommodate
anyone needing a burial plot. Since most
of our family are scattered over the entire
country with no real local connections,
many have responded. To date we have
my wife, my son, my parents and my
little sister buried here. Another sister
is planning to come. Even though I do
not have strong religious feelings, it
is comforting to have the whole clan
reuniting. We have eight plots reserved
for the rest of us. I hope we do not fill
them too soon.
There is even one unidentified Civil
War sailor. Our own rock of an unknown
soldier. VGN
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April 2017 | Volume 56 |
Issue 4
200
H-2A workers approved for U.S.
150
11
Tougher pesticide
safety rules are
now in effect
13
App to help
migrant laborers
connect with jobs
14
Growers share pros
and cons of H-2A
program
COLE 12MX
100
H-2A struggles to keep
up with grower demand
50
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Graphics: U.S. Department of Labor Office of Foreign Labor Certification
Photo: Stemilt
By Gary Pullano
Associate Editor
H-2A, the country's agricultural guest-worker
program, continues to grow.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor
(DOL), the number of H-2A workers jumped
from 77,246 to 165,741 between 2011 and 2016.
Since 2001, there's been a 106 percent increase
in H-2A certifications. Certifications in Florida,
North Carolina, Georgia, California, Arizona and
Washington have doubled since 2011, according
to DOL.
In Washington state, H-2A labor certifications topped
15,000 last year, compared to just over 12,000 in 2015,
said Dan Fazio, executive director of wafla (formerly the
Washington Farm Labor Association).
In 2010, Florida employed about 4,500 H-2A
workers. By 2016, that number had risen to more than
22,800, said Michael Carlton, director of labor relations
for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
The H-2A program is for seasonal workers,
generally for a period of 10 months or less, to
provide farms with short-term agricultural labor
when the number of available domestic workers
is insufficient.
The program has been criticized because it
See DEMAND, page 6
Washington growers focus on top apples
By Gary Pullano
Associate Editor
Several apple growers shared their
strategies for taking product " From Bud
to Bin, " which was the theme of the 60th
annual International Fruit Tree Association
conference in Wenatchee, Washington,
Feb. 19-23.
The conference was structured with
two days of orchard tours, two days of
educational sessions and a ton of networking
in between. Emphasis was placed on trends
and planning what to plant, how to prepare
and how to grow high-value varieties.
Production systems were a focus, and crop
load balance - including how to target fruit
and optimum return - were discussed.
Knowing when to harvest upon crop
maturity also was explored.
In the first day of tours, Jake
Robison, a fourth-generation grower at
Robison Orchards in Chelan, said he's
part of a transition plan to take over
the business, focusing the 125-acre
operation on identifying high-value
varieties in order to remain profitable.
Robison outlined the succession planning
that started on the family farm four years
ago. It's anticipated it will take seven years to
complete the process.
It's all about using high-value varieties
to avoid having to compete with larger
growers on lower-value selections. The
operation is located on sloping hills, unlike
flatter ground to which larger growers
likely have access, he said.
" What's good for the business is good for
the business, " Robison said. " The higher the
value, the better. We're always looking for
the next big thing that would make us a
lot of money. "
Harvesting 3,600 bins of apples in
2016, the effort came with 30 percent of
the orchard under renovation and out of
production, said Robison, who topworked
a Scifresh (Jazz) block.
See APPLES, page 8
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September 2019

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