SLO County is Ag

Farmer Jones has been farming in San Luis Obispo County since the 1920s and is still at it today. At 105 years old, he is tending to his sacred land and animals, raising goats, cattle, chickens, pigs and a few others on his multiple farms and vineyards spreading around the county. He has been growing produce and wine grapes for the state since his teen years and was one of the first farmers to produce #1 quality with livestock, wine grapes and produce in the San Luis Obispo area. He did have a bit of a difference in his approach where he talked to his plants and animals and they spoke back to him. He looked pretty funny when he would have guests over or people seeing him from the side of the road. No one saw anyone ever talking to him, so people just thought he was a little crazy but little did they know that this was part of his great success. Farmer Jones was the epitome of old school. He did not believe in technology and fought with his son for years about the advancements and how it would only make life easier for him. It was a constant battle between the two farmers. Farmer Jones produced the best that the country put out and had such perfect product that no one could deny that his dinosaur ways did work. It didn’t work for his innovative son, but they always worked together trying to find a balance between history and technology.

If you are going to talk about Farmer Jones, San Luis Obispo County and agriculture you have to think about growing wine grapes. The practice of viticulture in the area was used when Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was built back in 1772. They grew the mission grape for their ceremonies and pleasures. In the later 1800s, Saucelito Canyon in the Arroyo Grande Valley was growing Zinfandel and Ascension Winery in Paso Robles was also growing grapes. During prohibition a lot of the vineyards were uprooted and many growers had to stop making and selling wine. Farmer Jones did not make wine, he just grew grapes and sold them to wineries around the state. He was fine when prohibition hit because his grapes were going to churches during that time. He had the primo grapes that made him the go to farmer in California. One of his effective practices was, he held sincere conversations with his vines, allowing a nurturing relationship for both parties. The vines new about the land and climate and Farmer Jones knew about everything that would keep the vines happy and nourished.

Islay Hill, San Luis Obispo, CA

Farmer Jones was part of the bootlegging movement that happened heavily in SLO County during prohibition. He supplied his grapes to home winemakers which was big in the area. After a tough run during prohibition, the wine industry bounced back in SLO County so from the 1930s on, the area continued to grow and has never looked back. It has turned into one of the premier wine regions in the world with Paso Robles catching its stride and the SLO Coast is on its way. Farmer Jones was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the demand for grapes around the state. He was savvy in business and farming. It was the perfect combination for the longevity he desired for his farms. One day, Farmer Jones was in his San Luis Obispo vineyard walking the rows and he came across Victoria the Vine. “How are things going Victoria?” Farmer Jones said to the Pinot Noir vine. “Doing pretty well, just thirsty.” she responded. “Ok, let me turn the water on for you, I’ll be right back.” This was just one of the conversations Farmer Jones had with his vines and animals every day of the week. He knew each one well and always knew what they needed because they told him. Other farmer’s did not have this advantage. Hence his vast amount of success in all three markets. Grapes were his first priority, produce his second and third his livestock. He thrived in all of them and his competitors had no idea how he did it. He never shared his true secret.

Hennrieta the Horse

As Farmer Jones turned on the water he needed to check in on Gabe the Goat. Gabe was in charge of mowing down the brush and weeds In the vineyard. Along with being a leader with the other animals that worked an the farm. Everyone looked up to him because he had the most spunk and was always hanging out with Farmer Jones, learning the ropes of running a vineyard in SLO County. “Get to work! Quit horsing around with Henrietta.” Farmer Jones hollered. Henrietta was a talking horse that Farmer Jones rode around in the vineyard and on the property. “Just go work, we can play later.” Henrietta said encouraging Gabe. “Let’s go, now!” Farmer Jones screamed at him. “Alright, alright!” Him and Harriet have been friends for 10 years and have a bond like no one else on the farm. That afternoon, Farmer Jones had Gabe going to eat some brush in the Arroyo Grande vineyard while he did some pruning. Gabe hopped in the baller trailer and off they went. The trailer was top of the line with a 50 inch LED TV for the animals to watch. The surround sound made it perfect for movies. Farmer Jones took care of his animals and they took care of him. It was always two-sided but when it came down to it, Farmer Jones was the big boss man..

As Farmer Jones was driving Gabe to the vineyard in the Arroyo Grande Valley, a sub region of the SLO Coast AVA, he pulled out his walkie talkie to talk to Gabe in the back. “Just a heads up Gabe, this AVA was established in 1990 by Don Talley and William S. Greenough. Some of the soils are silty clay, limestone, volcanic rock and sandy clay loam so be aware. They grow top-notch Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Syrah among others.” “10/4 boss” Gabe replied through the walkie talkie. Gabe’s job was to go on an eating spree taking care of the weeds growing around the cover crop. This was his job most of the time, so he enjoyed getting to eat and loved helping Farmer Jones with the maintenance of the vineyard. “We are here for two hours, so get the job done.” firmly said Farmer Jones. “Okey Dokey!” Gabe expressed with happiness in his voice. Farmer Jones was a great boss and treated all of his animals like they were his own children. Unfortunately, he treated his own son like an animal when it came to evolving with technology.

Farmer Jones’s son was ahead of his time, studying technology in the vineyards for years getting his Dad to try things out little by little. He was attempting to prove that his new approach would take every aspect of his operation and make it easier on him. There are several different technologies that he tried in the vineyard, it just took so long to convince Farmer Jones to spend the money on this equipment. “Do you know that they are using GPS, satellite and airborne remote sensing, geographic information systems, meteorologic stations, digital elevation models, high resolution soil surveys and wireless sensor monitors in the vineyard? In regards to solving management problems, they give you information that helps you optimize harvest time for the ripeness of the grapes. Since the costs of running a vineyard, such as fertilizers, irrigation, pesticides and machinery are constantly increasing, these technologies can help you keep costs down and grow more natural and healthy wine grapes. Along with that, these modern systems are able to predict your yields, collect soil for nutritional analysis and forecast disease development.” “Well that sounds crazy and I doubt any of it is needed. Things have been working fine the way they are.” When Farmer Jones started listening to his son and giving some of the technologies a try, things started to get easier and more enjoyable for him. He was still strong as an ox, but his age was catching up to him and he could use the extra efficiency with everything he did on a daily basis. His son proved it with the grapes now it was time to show his dad some agricultural advancements that will help with his produce. “Dad, when are you going to learn?” his son constantly said to him. His Dad’s response was always, “Until the cattle come home.”

Farmer Jones not only grew superb wine grapes, he also grew the perfect lettuce, tomatoes, cauliflower, corn, celery, plums, strawberries and lemons. They all grew perfect in San Luis Obispo County so Farmer Jones sold it to the local markets, restaurants and CSA companies. A CSA company is a group of people that work with local farmers putting boxes of produce together and delivering it to your home or business. He loved working with these companies especially SLO Veg. SLO Veg has been around since 2009 and not only delivers local fruits and vegetables, they offer fish and marketplace goods such as specialty coffee, seasonings, flavored vinegars and other things to complete your healthy food experience. Rachael Hill the owner and Farmer Jones were very close and had things perfectly dialed in. She mastered the timing and communication with each farmer growing the goods she needed to consistently deliver her boxes on time Monday through Friday. Farmer Jones grew all of his produce throughout the county in San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Cayucos, Los Osos and Oceano where the coolness of the area balances perfectly with the sunshine to grow exceptional world-class produce. He made it happen on his own back in the day and he made it happen in the present day working with his son who complimented his old school ways with his newer more futuristic approach.

Farmer Jones found a lot of his success when working at the San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market that started in 1983. He had a booth and a following that would buy him out every Thursday night. He came with a truck load and left with an empty truck bed every time. There were local farmers and their produce, bbq, live music and always cool locals selling their unique goods. They block off Higuera St. and people from all over the county come to shop and have a good time with the usually busy crowd. His strawberries were always his top seller. They were fresh from Oceano and were so juicy that people could not get enough of them. His next top seller was his beef jerky. It won awards and always kept the community happy on the inside. One time at his booth two people ended up taking each other down to get the last pack of his jerky. He had to break up a couple fights each year because they were in such demand. Farmer Jones was his own security guard at times. His booth always had a stereo playing bluegrass and country music while locals stood in line and danced around the booth snacking on his goods. He gave out samples of his strawberries which got the customers every time. Farmer Jones was a local celebrity that people adored, knowing how hard he worked and how perfect his product was.

As time went on, Farmer Jones became open to his son’s ideas and long-term vision. His body was wearing out on him but his mind was still sharp and was still strong as an ox, but his joints were breaking down and his arthritis was hard to bare. Once he opened his mind up, his favorite technologies were drones that picked for him, GPS to monitor soil conditions, robots for soil analysis, temperature and moisture sensors, smart irrigation and automation for profits. His son, got his Dad to buy into a new technology every few years so it has taken a while to get him up to speed. What was wild was Farmer Jones’s produce enhanced in flavor and quality after each introduction to something new. By the time everything was in place, his product was better and his operation was all streamlined. His son faught and faught for each technology that always caused serious problems for the two. Farmer Jones already had perfect product and couldn’t understand how everything will pay itself off once implemented. The technology, especially the drones and robots were unbelievably expensive, but Farmer Jones began to have fun with them.  The Dad and his son year by year were getting on the same page, so now it was time to get his Dad up to par with livestock technology.

Farmer Jones loved his animals. He took care of them like they were his own kids, always making his son jealous because it seemed like he was closer to them then his own blood. He leased his goats to farmers and sold his cattle, pigs and chicken eggs to the community and golden state. Just like his incredible grapes and produce, he also had the highest quality and most cared for animals that helped his business thrive with his other products. He would grow attached to the animals but knew that he only had his cattle and pigs for so long, so he was good at separating the beginning of the relationship with the end. The steaks he produced with the cattle were some of the best around and filled the local restaurants with his grass fed cattle that were always prepared to perfection. His eggs were so tasty that he sold out to the local markets as soon as they were available. He somehow balanced his wine grapes, produce and livestock business with ease and was dialed in with his customers on all levels. His son learned how to take care of the animals from his Dad and was a big part of his success, always attempting to implement modern technology with their operation. The livestock added a lot of substance and value to the family and it’s thriving trifecta of an agriculture business.

Farmer Jones was incredible around his homemade Santa Maria barbecue grill he had at his San Luis Obispo farm. He would invite friends and business associates over and he would cook up his next level tritip, veggies, sausages and baked beans for them. His barbeque sauce was unapparelled. He won awards across the country and would beat out the best in St. Louis and Texas. So the combination of the superior sauce with the highest quality meat would almost knock you over. People always told him he needed to sell the sauce, but he never wanted to. He had enough on his plate. People begged him for it so he made small batches and gave them to his friends. He sold all his meat to locals and used his tritip for himself and his guests. If you were invited over, you were going to have one of the best nights of your life. His tritip was so tender and juicy with the pink masterfully perfect. He had a secret seasoning that also was so popular that he again, made small amounts and gave it away to his friends. He always used a soft french roll and on the insides it was dipped in garlic butter, a big stack of meat and hot barbeque sauce drizzle. You snacked on his sausages while he cooked the meat on the grill with red oak heating up from below. He made his baked beans from the ones he grew and his coleslaw was made of his own ingredients. It was the ultimate Central Coast barbeque experience.

When it came to livestock technology, Farmer Jones was the most apprehensive since he just didn’t understand how it could transform his already successful operation and business. His son worked the hardest of any of the technologies to convince his Dad that these new innovations were almost necessary these days for him to keep up the quality and wellness of his animals. Some of the cutting-edge technologies were helping farmers monitor their cows 24/7, 365 days a year, analyzing their well-being, productivity, and performance. They can translate visual information into actionable data using computer vision and artificial intelligence and in seconds, their imaging technology identifies and memorizes individual animals by their unique features. “Dad, these technologies are making tracking and managing livestock much easier and more data-driven. This technology can come from nutritional technologies, genetics, and digital technology. They are also developing sensors to monitor real-time milk production and quality, health, and pregnancy hormones. In addition, virtual fences can move animals wearing a sensor remotely from one area of a pasture to another. Even robotics is advancing fast in this industry. Did you know that 12% of dairy farms use robots, and is expected to grow to 20% in the next five years?” It was questions and comments like these that his son would always bring up. He had the stats to prove it and little by little was able to convince his Dad to invest in one technology at a time. Things were really getting expensive, but the outcome was outweighing the initial investments. The animals did seem happier and so did the bottom line.

When it comes to farming, you can’t do everything by yourself. You will always need help and that sometimes comes from your family. The family members need to make sacrifices to their own interest and do what the farm and family business need to function for the long hall. In order for Farmer Jones’s farm to operate in modern times, he realized that his son was offering not just labor, but the innovation to the future of farming, making it easier for him to transition out of the business and give up all responsibility to his son. His son was very capable after years of learning from his Dad along with his understanding of the technology that has been making drastic changes for the farm forcing his Dad to see into the future and accept that it was time to rest and pass the reins over. Farmer Jones worked his entire life on his farms and did not know what to do when the time came which was now. It was now his son’s turn and he promised his Dad, that he would keep alive the history that came before the technology. His son agreed and eventually figured out how he was going to find the middle between the two. As time passes you will always have to keep up with what is to come. His son needed to keep up with his Dad’s level of success, because Farmer Jones was dialed in. Once he opened his mind up he saw what the technology could do what he could never do before. It was the hardest thing ever for Farmer Jones to let go, but he finally did. He passed over the shovel for the last time and said, “Use them both for me or I will haunt you while turning in my grave. “I will Dad, you have my word.” “I love you Son.” Farmer Jones’s Son carried on his legacy and never let the quality drop. He won awards that he always told the public to do things like his Dad. Farmer Jones’s final words were, “Find the immaculate balance between history and its future.” The End

Oceano, CA