Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/675334
LAST BITE More Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg Neil Garrison grower / Sunnyside, Washington age / 32 crops / Cherries, wine and juice grapes, row crops, corn business / Farm manager of Dalkeith Farm family background / Neil studied business and worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and maritime companies around the nation before returning to join his father, Tom Garrison, on the family farm about eight years ago. " " " " How did you get your start? I grew up out here and was working in the fi elds pretty regularly, moving hand lines, sprinklers, all types of chores. Growing up in a small town in an isolated area, when I was older I was excited to leave and see the world. I went off to college then got into the maritime industry. Through that, I was able to see and experience a lot of things away from the farm. After a number of years doing that I recognized the value of what was here at home: from the lifestyle that it offered to some of the benefi ts of working the land and working with your family. What was the fi rst thing you had to learn? Some of the things that I needed to get under my belt were irrigation steps. Water use, especially in tree fruit and wine grapes, was really new to me, and I didn't have a lot of understanding of how it all works. It was one of the fi rst things I studied up on as soon as I returned home. Irrigation is a priority in the summer because nothing grows without water in the West. What challenges do you face? One of the biggest challenges was learning how to function professionally with your parents as a member of a business, rather than, 'Oh, it's my dad telling me to go do my chores again,' men- tality. Figuring out how to work with a parent was a huge personal challenge that fi rst year or two. I had to think of my past work outside of the farm and think, 'If this wasn't my dad and this was one of my other bosses, how would I be handling this situation right now? Would I be getting fi red up or would I take the advice and move on with my day?' Once I started doing that, our workplace dynamic changed and things became a lot easier. How do you approach diversifi cation? Diversifi cation forces you to focus your plan, because when you are overly diversifi ed, it leads to real management headaches. We've found when we had too many irons in the fi re, we needed to bring the number of crops down a bit. We eliminated apples because it was pulling us in too many directions at once. " Being diversi�ied ... you really do have to be good at a bunch of different things. PLAY goodfruit.com/yg scan to watch the interview www.gslong.com SPONSORED BY by TJ Mullinax More from this interview and other Young Growers at goodfruit.com/yg. 62 MAY 15, 2016 GOOD FRUIT GROWER