July 2022 - 1

High-Tech Tools
2022
Cornell's precision
viticulture research
covers everything from
the soil to canopy
8
13
Early successes in
Florida helped establish
blueberries in other
states
20
Michigan tart cherry
crop improves, labor
in question
July 2022 | Volume 61 |
Issue 7
SC farming family legacy
passes century mark
Jerrold A. Watson & Sons grows organic peaches, vegetables
Jeph and brothers Jerry and Joe Watson are the fourth and third generations of Watsons running Jerrold A. Watson & Sons. The Monetta, South Carolina, grower relies heavily
on Extension expertise to conserve water and grow its organic peaches, asparagus, squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and kale sustainably. Photos: Jerrold A. Watson & Sons
By Doug Ohlemeier
Assistant Editor
Jerrold A. Watson & Sons LLC
continues a legacy of growing, having
passed the century mark in operation.
The Monetta, South Carolina, grower,
which markets crops under the Watsonia
Organics brand, helped create the state's
peach and asparagus industries.
The fourth-generation family
operation grows, packs and ships
from a catalog of 17 items, all certified
through the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's National Organic
Program. The Watsons began growing
asparagus in 1918, later expanding to
peaches. In the early 1980s, the family
diversified its product line with yellow
and zucchini squash, eggplant, peppers
other items are harvested in the spring,
summer and fall.
The company grows in three
and tomatoes. Other items include
cabbage, cucumbers, sweet corn, kale,
collards, strawberries, plums and
muscadine grapes. Watson harvests
kale throughout the year while the
neighboring counties in west central
South Carolina: Aiken, Lexington and
Saluda counties. The Watsons' farm
on " the Ridge, " one of the world's most
famous peach growing areas. While the
See WATSON, page 5
West Coast growers battle water shortages
By Doug Ohlemeier
Assistant Editor
Growers on the West Coast are
facing their toughest water challenges
in recent history. Declining water
tables, lack of spring rains, historically
low snowpacks, and reservoirs and
stream flows at historic low levels are
keeping water a scarce commodity.
Farm ponds are drying up as
extreme summer heat produces water
deficits. Growers are trying to water
crops as water use restrictions increase.
Though the fall brought record
rainfall in limited portions of
California, it was followed by the
worst three months in the state's
history: January to March saw the
smallest amounts of rain.
" The whole state is dry, " said Don
Cameron, vice president and general
manager of Terranova Ranch Inc.
" Everyone's affected this year. "
The Helm, California, operation
grows 6,000 acres of conventional and
organic crops including processing
tomatoes, peppers, onions, nuts and
grain in the Central Valley. Access
to water is being severely reduced in
some areas.
" Couple that with no surface water,
See WATER, page 6
An irrigation system in a tomato field
north of Sacramento, California, during
a drought year. Photo: California
Department of Water Resources

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July 2022

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