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Truck farm replaces lost acreageWhatever you plan on doing when you are 75 years old, starting a new business venture is probably not on the agenda. But that is just what Curt Roberts of Arcadia, Okla., is doing. Through an unusual set of circumstances Roberts found himself with 80 fewer acres to farm this year. Increasing development in his area, which is north of Oklahoma City and east of Edmond, made it almost impossible to find land near his farm to buy or rent. Partly due to changes in the school district alignments in the area, people are moving out of Oklahoma City and Edmond and building homes on small acreages around Roberts' farm. "It will never be the same out here," Roberts said. "Development will destroy the original history of the land." To make the most of the acres he had left, Roberts, with encouragement and help from his sons, Chris and Greg, decided to start a truck farm. Roberts' farm is ideally situated for a business like this with historic highway Route 66 running by his driveway. "We have tons of traffic by here," Roberts said. Roberts learned from his father that just about anything could be grown on their farm. In addition to traditional crops, mostly cotton, Roberts' father grew plums, figs, and grapes. "There was not a thing that he would not try to grow," Roberts said. Roberts has experimented with different crops over the years, as well. He and his family always had a large three- to four-acre garden. Several years ago, he planted four and a half acres of peaches north of his house. The first year they produced fruit, he harvested 1,100 bushels of peaches and sold them for $1.25 a bushel. An early October freeze killed the whole orchard. "That took all the fun out of it," Roberts said. This year, Roberts dedicated an 11-acre tract of river bottom ground to his new truck farm enterprise. He has four acres of sweet corn, 203 tomato plants, one acre of cucumbers, three to four acres of watermelons and cantaloupes, and a few hills of squash. "Everything was going fine until Mother Nature put a stop to it," Roberts said. Sweet corn needs to be ready for harvest by July 4 to match demand. But, Roberts' corn was already starting to dry up the first week of July. They received about a quarter inch of rain--what Roberts referred to as a "cotton shower"--early in July, but it was not enough to save the sweet corn. By the second week of July, Roberts was ready to bale the sweet corn so the cows would not have to push it down. Roberts' sweet corn seed cost $400 and they were only able to sell $300 worth of sweet corn. On the plus side, their customers really liked the corn they were able to harvest. Roberts said they planted a single variety of Bt corn. There were no worms in the corn and Roberts was very impressed. It was an expensive lesson but Roberts learned that four acres of sweet corn is too much to harvest by hand. "We are looking into purchasing a mechanical corn picker," Roberts said. The rest of his produce crops look good enough that Roberts and his sons are making plans for next year and beyond. The 11 acres chosen for the truck farm runs along the south side of the Deep Fork River. A gravity flow irrigation system is a possibility. Although there are four to five farmers markets not far from their farm in both Edmond and Oklahoma City, Roberts said they are focusing on sales from the farm. Primarily, because of a lack of available labor, they will not be able to attend a farmers market on a regular basis. Roberts' sons, Chris and Greg, are helping with the truck farm but they both have off-farm jobs that take up a lot of their time. Their plan is to build a new open- sided barn with a concrete floor for a roadside market. They have a nice flat area right next to Route 66 that gives them plenty of room for a barn and for a parking area. Roberts has not given up on traditional crops on the rest of his farm. This year, he cut way back on corn and planted more soybeans and spring oats, and started growing alfalfa again for the horse market. The economic downturn has slowed down development in the Arcadia area, but Roberts is not ready to buy or rent more land. He said all of their land is now paid for and they will do the best they can with what they have even if that means starting a new business when most people would have retired. "We are just trying to farm the land we own and make it pay off," Roberts said. "We are willing to do a little more and get a little extra profit." Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304, or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.
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