Family farmer adapts to keep business thriving
By JULIE F. MORRIS
Pinnacle Correspondent
Editor’s Note: This final story in a series featuring three
sustainable farmers in San Benito County who will be featured with
other local growers this Sunday at the Second Annual Harvest Fair
from 1 to 4 p.m. at the St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan
Bautista.
Mark Gibson walks through his walnut orchards surveying this
year’s crop, carefully picking the nuts off the trees and examining
them for imperfections. The nuts are ready to harvest. His orchard
is a peaceful retreat from the busy street nearby. Surrounded by
residential areas and a public school, one can only imagine the
value of this quiet, shaded land amid Hollister’s recent real
estate boom. The land, although perfectly located for development,
is prime agricultural land. Rich soils have produced annual crops
of walnuts that have helped support Gibson and his family for two
generations.
Family farmer adapts to keep business thriving
By JULIE F. MORRIS
Pinnacle Correspondent
Editor’s Note: This final story in a series featuring three sustainable farmers in San Benito County who will be featured with other local growers this Sunday at the Second Annual Harvest Fair from 1 to 4 p.m. at the St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista.
Mark Gibson walks through his walnut orchards surveying this year’s crop, carefully picking the nuts off the trees and examining them for imperfections. The nuts are ready to harvest. His orchard is a peaceful retreat from the busy street nearby. Surrounded by residential areas and a public school, one can only imagine the value of this quiet, shaded land amid Hollister’s recent real estate boom. The land, although perfectly located for development, is prime agricultural land. Rich soils have produced annual crops of walnuts that have helped support Gibson and his family for two generations.
Recently, his daughter, Nichole, finished college, married and returned to Hollister to work part-time for Gibson Farms.
“I’ve always helped every year with apricots, but this is the first time I’ve worked on the walnut harvest. It’s exciting, I learn something new every day,” Nichole said.
Gibson Farms is a leader in local, organic walnut processing – where local growers go to have their walnuts shelled and marketed. Packing and shipping makes up three-fourths of his annual sales. He also grows his own apricots and organic walnuts. Marketing them as organic has enabled him to carve out a niche for himself. It hasn’t always been that way though. Gibson’s decision to go organic in 1994 has allowed him to make a larger profit for his work and continue farming.
“It’s a mental thing,” he says of the transition from conventional to organic farming. “I think you have to envision it first. You have to see that this is an ideal way to go – and then you have to see if you can make it happen.”
Because consumers pay a premium for organic produce, Gibson has been able to earn roughly 50 percent more per pound for his yields than if they were conventionally-grown nuts. His customers include natural foods distributors and stores, including Whole Foods Markets. He also exports walnuts to Japan for consumers who will pay a higher price for the best walnuts.
“There is no question that going organic has opportunity,” Gibson said. “You just have to start small and find a market for the product. You have to find ways to add value to your product. It takes dedication, hard work, support from both family and good employees and a little bit of luck.”
Gibson’s father, Marion, was born in Hollister in 1912. He showed Mark the basics of farming and instilled in him a love for the land. But Mark had no intention of farming when he grew up. He wanted to be a teacher and went to college to earn a degree in philosophy. After doing graduate work at San Francisco State University, he taught high school for a few years before returning to the farm.
“I came back to help out and never left,” Gibson said.
He and his wife, Leigh, married in 1977 and settled in Hollister. Leigh still recalls going to work with Mark and having to call the bank for a loan to make payroll.
“I told Mark, ‘I can’t call them and ask for money!’ I had never done that before,” Leigh said.
Like many young couples just starting out, the Gibsons decided to borrow money for their business. In 1975 they borrowed $130,000 to purchase a state-of-the-art walnut huller and dehydrator. The machine still runs and is still a critical part of their walnut operations.
“That was a lot of money in 1975 – it’s a lot of money today!” Gibson laughed.
Along with Leigh and Nichole, Gibson also works with his brother, Gilbert, and sister, Ginger, at Gibson Farms. They still sell dried apricots – something for which their mother, Mary, was famous – out of their home on Sunnyslope and Airline Highway, adjacent to the family’s orchards next to Rancho San Justo Middle School. The land is slated to be part of the Highway 25 bypass in 2004.
“It’s a sad thing (the highway coming through that property) because it’s such fantastic soil,” Gibson says, shaking his head. “It’s too bad no one had any vision of preserving the natural resource of good soil.”
Because of cheaper, imported dried apricots from Turkey, the domestic apricot industry has seen a steady decline since 1983. According to Gibson, a crate of his dried cots costs at least $3 to produce. Shipments from Turkey are sold for $1.30 a crate – prices U.S. growers cannot match.
“Economics never leaves the picture,” Gibson said. “Prices decrease if the supply is too much. The main problem we have in agriculture right now is competition from countries with lower costs of production.”
Producers who can differentiate their products from others have an advantage on the open market. The environmental benefits of farming organically are also something important to Gibson.
“It’s better for everybody, not just for business,” he said. “The initial factor that got me into organic farming was my interest in growing cover crops. Farmers are more productive if they have healthy soil.”
Gibson is consistent in his environmental practices. Employees are encouraged to recycle all waste at the plant and he cringes at the thought of using too much plastic for shipping.
“I hate throwing it away,” he said. “We try to recycle as much as possible.”
Despite the challenges of marketing, imports and incoming highways, Gibson is committed to farming. Like many farmers, he loves the land too much to do anything else.
“Farming is more challenging than ever,” he said. “We have to find ways to fairly compensate farmers for their products and for maintaining their land.”
Gibson, who also sits on the local San Benito County Agricultural Land Trust, is a proponent of urban land limits and other planning tools that preserve prime soils and encourage building on the poorer soils. He realizes that cities must grow, but advocates planning methods that “avoid urban sprawl and allow for the preservation of agricultural and open spaces.”
“Society benefits from farming. I could look at it as an individual and, basically, succumb to the forces of the market, but I love orchards,” Gibson said. “It’s a societal issue. Food is something farmers are paid for. But other benefits they provide to society – such as scenery and open space – are things many growers are never compensated for.”
Gibson and his fellow growers hope to stay in business for their grandchildren – “or other peoples’ grandchildren,” as Gibson says – to take over.
