WCN Dec e

JOSEPH JACKSON ON “DOING WHAT MATTERS”
“YOU CAN TAKE THE FARMER OUT OF THE ORCHARD, BUT CAN’T TAKE
THE ORCHARD OUT OF THE FARMER”
By TAYLOR CHALSTROM | Assistant Editor
Farming has been practically inescapable
for most of Joseph Jackson’s
life, and it’s become his livelihood.
Jackson, a part-time grower himself
and account manager with Phytech,
helped his father grow row crops and
stone fruits for much of his childhood in
the Kettleman City area. It wasn’t until
the early 2000s when his father shifted
to farming almonds that he entered the
world of tree nuts.
“Like a lot of people in the [Central]
Valley, he saw the great prices of almonds
and pistachios and thought, ‘Hey,
I gotta get in on that as well,’” Jackson
said, noting however that it has been
increasingly difficult to farm in the area
in recent years. “Problems with available
surface water or prices of surface water
as well as really no access to groundwater
at all in our area meant that we kind
of kept downsizing the operation, not
just in changing crops but also in land
sales.”
Looking for the Long-Term
Jackson said he became less engaged
in the family farm as it downsized,
citing the stress of regulatory challenges
as a factor as well as the fact that his
current paychecks don’t entirely depend
on the weather. That being said, working
with growers every day in his position
at Phytech has made him miss growing,
and he’s been looking to reenter it in a
larger capacity.
“I miss [farming] enough to where
I don’t think I could go much longer
without having any serious impact,”
Jackson said. “So, whether that’s buying
a small plot, 40, 50 acres, starting there
and having a little something, almonds
and pistachios especially are what I’m
interested in getting back into.
“There are lots of jobs where you go in
and feel like you’re clocking in, clocking
out and not really seeing anything at the
end of the day, and that’s just not the
case with farming,” he added. “[In farming],
you really do feel like what you’re
doing matters.”
Jackson and his father have been in
talks to form a partnership and lease or
buy a new tree nut orchard. He said that
due to current regulations and commercial
advancements, he and his father
have been more thoughtful throughout
the planning process about where the
orchard will be located and how it will
be managed.
“[We want to] make a system where
we can keep farming for a long time,”
Jackson said.
Jackson puts great value on optimizing
management practices and improving
on-farm sustainability, reasons why
he said he will never let go of farming.
“We’re also helping make positive change,
whether it’s caring for a piece of land,
taking care of the plants there, the soil
there,” he said. “It’s just something really
special.”
When considering more sustainable
practices, Jackson is also thinking about
the next generation of growers. “I have
kids now, and with my love of ag, I want
them to be able to experience agriculture
in the valley,” he said. “So, to do that, we
need to be more thoughtful and more
sustainable with how we’re farming so
that we can keep farming for generations
to come.”
Always Contributing
Jackson accrues most of his hours in
orchards through his commercial position,
but he has also found other ways
to stay involved in the tree nut industry.
He is a graduate of the Almond Board
of California’s (ABC) selective Almond
Leadership Program, which “inspires
and prepares almond community members
to join a network of leaders meeting
the challenges of a changing industry,”
Working with growers every day in his
position at Phytech has made Joseph Jackson
miss growing, and he’s been looking
to re-enter it in a larger capacity (photo
courtesy J. Jackson.)
according to ABC’s website. Additionally,
Jackson sits on ABC’s Strategic Ag
Innovations Committee where he and
other members strategically decide
where the almond industry needs to go
with things like ag, environmental and
food safety initiatives.
At the time that Jackson applied for
the Almond Leadership Program, he
was still working as a grower full-time
and was stuck in what he referred to as
an “almond industry silo.” After graduating
from the program, he had a clearer
understanding of the scope of the industry
and could see beyond his grower
perspective.
“We have all of these grower concerns
on our minds, but when it comes to the
almonds, we get them off the tree and
kind of pat the trucks goodbye, and
that’s kind of in a sense where the almonds
stop with us,” Jackson said. “But,
they go on a much longer journey, and
that’s really what the [Almond] Leadership
Program gives you… they actually
take you to those places.”
Jackson is referring to every step
of the supply chain after almonds are
trucked away from the orchards, such
as huller-sheller facilities and shipping
ports. Program members also get to hear
from ABC about industry research into
almonds’ nutritional benefits and global
76 West Coast Nut December 2021