Best Of 2019 - Agriculture

Best Big Grower of Fruits & Vegetables

Tanimura & Antle

1 Harris Road, Spreckels (831) 455-2255, taproduce.com

T&A and all of Monterey County ag suffered a body blow last year with the passing of legendary company president Rick Antle, who died suddenly of cancer in April. Antle, a smart-as-a-whip businessman with a social conscience – he led the company during its development of high-quality housing for migrant farm workers, for example, and launched a stock-ownership program for employees – had ensured the board had a succession plan in place. The company forged on, and continues delivering high-quality goods, farming over 30,000 acres and selling produce all over North America, Asia and Europe. But maybe what they grow best is people: The company finds the best talent and nurtures it too.

Best Organic Grower

Earthbound Farm

7250 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel (831) 625-6219

Back when Drew and Myra Goodman started Earthbound Farm on 2.5 acres in a Carmel Valley backyard in 1984, the term “organic” had a reputation left over from the 1960s and 1970s as one of those hippie things, not for the rest of mainstream society to take interest in. They started with what was the organic bible at the time, J.I. Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. Although ownership has since changed, the vision did not. Earthbound Farm has always been ahead of the curve on where Americans’ preferences and taste buds were headed and today, Earthbound Farm is one of the largest organic growers in the world.

Best Ag Industry Leader

Bruce Taylor

CEO of Taylor Fresh Foods 150 Main St., Salinas (831) 754-0471, taylorfarms.com

It’s hard to remember a time that Bruce Taylor was not Lettuce King of Salinas, but if you throw back to, say, the 1980s, that was before Taylor Fresh Foods even existed. It wasn’t until 1995 that Taylor, along with several partners, founded the eponymous company to grow, process and ship the vegetables that make the Salinas Valley known as the Salad Bowl of the World. And it wasn’t until 2015 that the Taylor Building in Oldtown Salinas opened, a pivotal property in the revitalization of a neighborhood that’s now thriving. With Taylor, instead of looking back in time, it’s wiser to look forward; whatever innovations he’s imaging are likely to be the next big thing for everyone growing (and eating) produce.

Best Woman in Ag

Tonya Antle

Co-founder and executive vice president of Organic Produce Network 5 Harris Court, Monterey, (831) 884-5058, organicproducenetwork.com

In 1980s, Tonya Antle was already hard at work in the organic produce world. In fact, she was shaping the organic produce world as we know it. She was selling organic table grapes out of the San Joaquin Valley and made history in 1989 when she landed the first sale of organic West Coast produce to a major East Coast grocery store, a Stop & Shop in Boston. “That’s my claim to fame,” she says. This was even before the U.S. Department of Agriculture established the organic definition (in 1990) that’s still in use today. That leadership instinct never went away; more recently, in 2017, Antle co-founded the Organic Produce Network in Monterey, bringing information and networking events to the industry she helped mold.

Best Local Ag Educator

Hartnell College

411 Central Ave., Salinas 1752 E. Alisal St., Salinas (831) 755-6700, hartnell.edu

The Salinas Valley and Monterey County’s hearty agriculture industry owes a debt of gratitude to Hartnell College. For decades, the community college has been producing a well-educated workforce in all areas of agriculture. That workforce is what helped the industry hit the billion-dollar mark in value in the 1980s – not once, but four times. (It’s now valued at more than $4 billion.) It’s thanks to Hartnell that a young former migrant worker named Henry Gonzales – laid off after the Firestone tire plant closing in the early ’80s – got his associate’s degree in agricultural mechanics, transferred to Fresno State, and today is Monterey County’s Agricultural Commissioner.

Best Ag NonProfit

The Food Bank for Monterey County

353 W. Rossi St., Salinas (831) 758-1523, foodbankformontereycounty.org

The Food Bank for Monterey County began way back in 1983 as a program for the Alliance on Aging before becoming its own nonprofit in 1990. If only hunger were a thing of the past – but it’s not, and thankfully we have the food bank doing crucial work to mitigate it. The organization has expanded over the years so that now it serves 10 million pounds of food a year – to 20 percent of this county’s residents. The food bank took a hit in 2015 when an arsonist set its loading dock ablaze, but just this past December, the group moved into a new and bigger location, where they even have a nutrition training center. Let’s hope this community resource continues another 30 years.

Best Agricultural Business Association

Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association

536 Pearl St., Monterey (831) 375-9400, montereywines.org

Executive Director Kim Stemler refers to the MCVGA as “promoters, cheerleaders, barrier busters and connectors” for the county’s winemakers, wineries and vineyards. That doesn’t mean they sip wine spritzers all day, it means they push tasting room maps, work with hotel concierges and travel organizations, they host trade and media events and meet with policymakers to hash out issues and laws that impact the market. There’s some fun – the upcoming Monterey Winemakers’ Celebration, for example. But there’s a lot of lobbying to, say, successfully urge state legislators to pass a labeling law requiring any wine with a Monterey County sub-AVA on the label to include the county’s name, so winos… um, connoisseurs… around the world learn to consider Monterey a destination. Heavy stuff.

BeSt Ag Equipment Supplier

Pacific Ag Rentals

4 Harris Road, Salinas (866) 727-7368, pacificagrentals.com

It wasn’t too long ago when a farmer could accomplish a lot with a harvesting knife and a short-handled hoe. Farming today, however, often emphasizes the efficiency and speed that comes with using the kind of technology offered by Pacific Ag Rentals’ fleet of over 2,000 pieces of equipment. Whether you need a timeless tool like a John Deere row crop tractor that can help harvest season after season or the latest utility vehicle to quickly get around the farm, Pacific Ag has you covered.

Best Ag Innovation in 2018

Ag Day at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 1021 Monterey-Salinas Highway, Salinasweathertechraceway.com/ag-day

This is an industry that’s changing by the minute with technology like drones, high-efficiency irrigation systems and seeds bred to exhibit specific traits. But here’s the thing about the ag industry: It’s still about people, and it’s still about heavy machinery. Those two classic components came together for the first Ag Day at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2018, and a version 2.0 is already scheduled for the summer of 2019. This track is not for race cars only – tractors, apparently, are invited to roll up too.

Best Farmers Market Vendor

Swank Farms

4751 Pacheco Pass Highway, Hollister (831) 637-4704, swankfarms.com

Perhaps one reason locals flock to the Swank Farms booth at the Old Monterey Farmers Market is because the produce, which is grown in Hollister, is picked in the morning and brought to the market fresh, just a few hours later. Or perhaps it’s the enduring popularity of Swank’s fresh heirloom salsas. But it’s probably a combination of the two, and the satisfaction that comes with buying food that’s fresh, whole and locally grown – which wasn’t a thing in the ’80s.

Best Specialty Crop

Artichokes

Cannabis may be the leafy green that’s all the rage, but consider the stalwart artichoke, which forged its epic brand identity in Castroville and can now be found almost everywhere. How do you choke? Are you a trim, steam and slide the leaves across your teeth fan, or do you go straight for a deliciously crisp boat of deep-fried hearts, a side of spicy aioli ready for dipping? Do you stuff and roast, or do you save yourself the trouble and buy a bucket of rich artichoke dip, slice up a baguette and sequester yourself for some alone time? However you do it, the artichoke’s popularity warrants its own celebration – and there is one. The annual Castroville Artichoke Festival takes place this year June 1-2 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds.

Best Cash Crop

Cannabis

Growers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and everyone else in the budding cannabis industry are counting coin as they work to showcase Monterey County’s newest legal cash crop. The days of shady drug dealers and hidden grows are in the past (for the most part – black markets are notoriously difficult to eradicate), and the days of mounting tax revenues are upon us. The cities that have implemented and opened dispensaries, as well Monterey County (for locations in unincorporated spots outside of city limts) are all bolstering their budgets with the excise tax paid by weed enthusiasts. County offices are even collecting taxes in cash. Cha-ching.

Best Grape Varietal

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir has a reputation. Growers consider it temperamental, perhaps even downright fussy – and they have since before Michael J. Fox was a sitcom star. In Monterey County, however, vineyards produce consistent fruit thanks to a growing season shaped by the “Blue Grand Canyon” – that deep vault in the seabed of Monterey Bay. This results in wine with vibrant cherry flavors balanced by a grassy bite, hints of spice and wild meadowland and other subtle notes. Essentially, this starting point gives local winemakers a lot to play with in terms of fermentation and aging. So every winery has a fine Pinot to show off. And who could blame them for boasting a bit?