Foster’s organic farms of San Benito prove growing green means
harvesting greenbacks
If there’s a test case that shows growing organic can be
profitable, Phil Foster’s operation in San Benito would be a
”
near perfect
”
example.
Foster’s organic farms of San Benito prove growing green means harvesting greenbacks
If there’s a test case that shows growing organic can be profitable, Phil Foster’s operation in San Benito would be a “near perfect” example.
On a sunny spring day, the tall and formidable Phil Foster gave reporters a tour of the 50 acres he organically farms in the fertile San Juan Valley, off Duncan Road just east of San Juan Bautista. The farm boasts a cornucopia of some 50 kinds of produce. Cauliflower, broccoli, celery, carrots, parsnips, a dozen varieties of melons and lettuces, chard, tomatoes, squash, cabbage, shallots – even rutabaga – to name just a few, and it’s all grown without a drop of pesticide or chemical fertilizers.
“We’ve had some good luck,” Foster said, downplaying his green thumb as a farmer.
Perhaps. There is no denying Foster got in on the organic craze at a peak moment, during the 1990s. His timing is impeccable, but the man knows his produce and how to sell it.
“The organic industry seems to have plenty of growth in it,” Foster said. “People like to know where their produce comes from. They like fresh.”
On the southern end of the property, Foster’s acres of fruit trees – cherries, apples, nectarines, figs, plums and pears – bear fragrant blossoms that signal pollen carriers to come hither. Foster keeps the vital bees that carry nectar and pollen happy by planting certain flowing bushes in his hedgerows which will guarantee year-round blossoms: California lilac, coffee berry, coyote weed and yarrow.
After a noon break, Foster’s workers efficiently plant broccoli, with extra rows of cilantro and sweet alyssum in between to keep the “beneficials” – that’s beneficial insects – close to the field.
So instead of spraying some chemical on a red lettuce aphid, he simply makes sure a surphid fly larvae is happy, the natural predator to the aphid, and the problem is solved without ruining good food.
The holistic nature of the operation goes further. In 2003, Foster installed massive solar panels on his barn roofs, providing about 20 percent of the energy needs to the farm. It helps operate two cold storage units and the irrigation pumps for the acreage.
“It takes quite a few years to pay off, but it fits right in,” Foster said.
In addition, the farmer runs all the farm equipment – tractors, diesel delivery trucks and even refrigerator trucks – with biodiesel fuel made of veggie oil. Right now, half of the farm’s fuel needs are on biodiesel, and Foster is aiming to bring that up to 75 percent.
Foster started farming organically in 1988. But before that he worked on a large corporate farm for his cousin, Bob Swanson.
“He’s the one that piqued my interest,” Foster said, walking down his dirt driveway past a field of potatoes and cover crop. The cover crop, usually a cereal like oat or a nitrate-rich legume such as vetch, is grown in areas of a field every year and a half, only to be mowed and spaded under. It supplies the soil with nutrients and organic matter, will feed micro-organisms to enable them to do their work, and within a month or so, a new crop can be planted.
“When I was in conventional farming I wanted everything to be super neat and clean, with no weeds” Foster said. “As I got into it, I came to embrace chaos.”
And as he got into it, he started understanding the market. At first, Foster sold to wholesale markets, using a wholesale broker as a middleman. Then in the 1990s, Foster and his associates started moving closer to the local markets. They started delivering to the local stores, and now bigger wholesalers come in and do weekly pickups at the farm, including Whole Foods and an outfit called Veritable Vegetables in San Francisco.
“The local markets work a lot better,” Foster said. “We’re doing all our sales ourselves now, which helps the economic viability of the farm. And we understand the needs of our customers better.”
“There are dollar considerations both ways,” he added. “When the market’s low, they understand we need to make a profit.”
Now he sells at some eight farmer’s markets in the region, including the one that just restarted in Hollister on Wednesdays. On Saturdays, customers are welcome to drive into the farm on 400 Duncan Road, from 9 am to 1 pm, to get their fresh produce.
Foster leases another farm on Santa Ana Valley Road, where he also produces 2,000 tons of compost a year – with the help of a neighbor’s turkey farm manure. Together, his farms total 250 acres.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of in making a profit,” said Foster.
