Louis Bonino with Bill Chiala and Russ Bonino
families have worked hard to develop
our land and pass it down generation
to generation. I hope the people of our
community remember that once our
local farm land is sold, it’s gone forever.
Feeding the world’s growing population is
only going to get harder.”
“We want local youth to know the
heritage of farming in this community,
so we host tours for local schools and
support the FFA. We want to encourage
families to buy local and in season, so we
run our retail store. It’s great when people
want to learn how food is grown and
what fresh fruit and vegetables really
taste like.”
GC Farms
LJB Farms
For those who haven’t shopped at the LJB
Farmstand or met members of the Bonino
family around town, it’s time you did.
Louie Bonino and his sons Russ and Brent
are third and fourth generation family
farmers. Louie and Russ took a break from
their work to talk with
TODAY
about LJB Farms.
“Next year marks our family’s 100 th
year of farming in South County,” Russ
said. “When my brother Brent and I were
kids, Spreckles was growing sugar beets in
Salinas. We both went to Cal Poly, where I
focused on ag engineering technology and
Brent focused on ag business. Our great
grandfather grew prunes, walnuts, pears
and grapes. Our father, Louie, joined the
business after his military service. He
added row crops. Tomatoes grown for
food processing; cucumbers, corn, and
squash grown for seed.”
At 74, Louie is still active on the farm.
“Farming is my life. If I’m still breathing,
I’m working,” Louie said with a light-
hearted laugh. “I couldn’t imagine doing
anything else. My wife Judy has done the
books for years.”
“Over time we’ve expanded the
business to include tree crops, seed crops,
flowers, broccoli, cauliflower and onions,”
Russ said. “We also cultivate a custom
garlic crop for Christopher Ranch. We
grow for various U.S. seed companies like
Sakata, and grow lima and fava beans for
gmh
60
seed export to countries including Japan
and the U.K.”
“There are more challenges to farming
here today,” Russ continued. “For one
thing, it’s harder to move farm equipment
on the local roads and commuters aren’t
always amenable to it. Some of our crops
like strawberries, peppers and tomatoes
require harvesting by hand. This creates
more jobs but rising labor costs are an
issue. Local laborers say they need to
make more in order to live and work here
than most farmers can afford to pay.
We still have to grow our business and
maximize our profit per acre to remain
viable.”
When asked about water scarcity, Russ
said, “Water is always a hot topic. But
farmers are good stewards of the land.
Farms capture the rainwater naturally
and preserve it in the normal cycle of
precipitation and evaporation. We made
a significant investment to convert our
fields to 100 percent drip irrigation and
we pay a special tax to pump water from
our own wells. But population growth
is pushing the limits of natural water
resources. Our community needs to move
ahead on projects like the Anderson Dam
retrofit and water recycling. Modern
recycling produces water that’s more pure
than tap water.”
“Like other farmers and ranchers in
South County, we love the land. Our
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
JULY / AUGUST 2016
In the 1950s, a first-generation Italian
immigrant named Vito Chiala moved
his family farm from Cupertino to
Morgan Hill. In 1972, George, Sr. estab-
lished his own farm after graduating
from Santa Clara University with an
economics degree. George grew straw-
berries, sugar beets, tomatoes, peppers
and lots of corn. He joined a farmers’
co-op and got involved with the Santa
Clara County Farm Bureau. As the busi-
ness grew and George got busier, his
wife Alice, a graduate of San José State
with a degree in food science, took on
the company’s finances.
In 1984, George and Alice invested
in the development of a novel food
processing facility. With some guid-
ance from U.C. Davis and the Farm
Bureau, they developed food processing
techniques that allowed them to achieve
sustainable business growth beyond
the volatile fresh market and to pursue
emerging global market opportunities.
Over the years, the Chiala’s became a
supplier to leading brands including
Campbell’s, Nestlé, Heinz and Safeway,
and gained access to world markets.
The Chiala’s sons George Jr. and
Tim joined the family business and
subsequently moved into management
roles. Today, GC Farms grows
conventional and organic fruits and
vegetables throughout California, and
specializes in production of prepared
vegetable ingredients, including Certified
Organic and Certified Kosher options.
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