He Turned To Vegetable Crops To Make A Living

He Turned to Vegetable Crops to Make a Living CROPS Miscellaneous 10-6-34 A Minnesota farmer who lost his 120 acre farm to foreclosure 5 years ago is back in farming with a vegetable growing and marketing business that he hopes to franchise to farmers in other areas of the country. Rex Oberhelman, Fairmont, Minn., got into truck gardening as a sideline to the full-time job he took after he lost his farm. His 1¢ acres of crops, which netted $2,800 the first year, grew to 5 acres and a net of $27,000 last year. He credits his success to a marketing system. Instead of selling only to local stores, he cut a deal with a large wholesaler that buys a total of $770,000 worth of produce per week and enlisted other farmers in his area to join in as growers with him. They now classify their produce in two categories. Grade A produce is sold to stores while lesser quality, Grade B produce is sold to food manfuacturers who produce commercial food products. "Processing and marketing is the key to this type of enterprise," Oberhelman told FARM SHOW. He's already lined up 15 growers in his area and hopes to form a marketing group with a total of 50 to 75 farmers. "Then we hope to take the idea to other areas of the country. When farmers band together in a cooperative way to produce vegetables they become much more competitive, and can build their own central processing centers to best serve their customers." Oberhelman says each farmer needs only 7 to 10 acres to produce enough vegetable crops to support an average size family. He's targeted several vegetable crops as ideal for his type of labor intensive operations, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, and winter squash. He's also developed several growing techniques that make the job easier. Oberhelman's techniques include the use of black plastic mulch to eliminate the need for chemicals and the use of old tires for vining plants instead of stakes. He says the tires act as water reservoirs and solar collectors, helping soil stay warm and moist around the plants and keeping vegetables off the soil once plants begin to produce. Oberhelman travels throughout the country explaining his growing and marketing system to other farmers. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rex Oberhelman, Rt. 1, Box 183, Fairmont, Minn. 56031 (ph 507 238-4744).

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