December 2021 - 3

Lipman Family Farms
doubles down on
organics
Maine Potato Board
shifts to business of
growing seed
14
22
34
Specialty melon variety
offers high tunnel
option
December 2021 | Volume 55 |
Issue 12
The miracle
of growing
Baloian Farms recognized for
innovation, charitable work
Third-generation grower Tim Baloian is the CEO of Baloian Farms. Photos: Baloian Farms
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Faith, family and farming are pillars of
Baloian Farms, a grower-shipper in Fresno,
California, that recently was honored in the
industry for its innovation and generosity.
Baloian Farms was recently named the
Moss Adams 2021 Agribusiness of the
Year. The award is presented each year
by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce
to a company that has demonstrated
industry leadership through innovation
and performed philanthropic acts in the
community.
Although Baloian is based in Fresno,
where it farms, it harvests, packs and ships
vegetables from several areas, including
Southern California's Coachella Valley and
Nogales, Arizona.
The family is fourth-generation
growers, with ancestors who fled Armenia
for religious reasons during World War
I's Armenian Genocide. Charles Baloian
farmed a 70-acre ranch on Staten Island
first in 1917 before moving to the Fresno
area in 1920. Charles Baloian's passion
was for " growing healthy food that helps
people, " according to Tim Baloian, a
third-generation grower who's now CEO
of the company.
Faith and farming remain important
to the family. Tim's brother, Bruce, is a
retired seminary professor. Two of Tim's
daughters, and two of Bruce's sons, are
involved in the business.
Staying involved with the farm is a
decision future generations will make on
their own.
" It comes back to having that passion,
being in love with the miracle of farming.
Being in love with what you do, " Tim
Baloian said. " So, it's not so much work. It
is work, but if you really enjoy it and you
see the fruits of your labor, it's gratifying. "
" But it's been good to us, " he said.
See PEPPERS, page 5
Tom Ford makes solid impact on growers
By William J. Lamont Jr.
Professor Emeritus Vegetable Crops
Department of Plant Science
Penn State University
From time to time, I will be
recognizing researchers, Extension
specialists and county Extension
agents (educators) who are serving
vegetable growers around the country.
A lot of times, they serve in the
trenches day in and day out and do
not receive the recognition that I
believe they deserve. My first person
is Tom Ford, a Penn State Extension
educator.
Tom Ford was born in Washington,
D.C., and was raised in the shadow of the
Capital Beltway for most of his early life.
Tom's grandfather on the Ford side was
from rural Goochland County, Virginia,
and while he had carved out a career as
an automobile mechanic, he grew up
raising butterbeans and black-eyed peas.
Tom's grandmother Ford was the
botanist in the family, and would lead
her grandchildren on hikes through
the forests and meadows pointing out
every wildflower and edible plant that
appeared along their way. Tom's other
grandmother
escaped Nazi
Germany and
brought to the U.S.
a profound love of
flower gardening
and decorated her
outdoor areas with
tuberous begonias
and geraniums.
Tom's dad, Jim,
to Tom, he had every USDA agricultural
publication printed on file in a cabinet in
the basement. While he never was able
to fulfill his dream and farm, he grew
a myriad of fruit trees and vegetables
on his one-acre lot. Tom, like many
others, was greatly influenced by his
grandparents and his father when it
came to horticulture and gardening.
In ninth grade, Tom took his first
TOM FORD
always wanted to farm, and, according
horticulture class from Jim Lloyd at
South Carroll High School, and then
See FORD, page 6
December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2021
