CALIFORNIA
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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Jayleaf founder and CEO Jose Ornelas began by helping his parents on a 1-acre farm. His firm has grown into a significant grower, packer and shipper of produce from organic-certified farmland.
From humble starts, growers share path to success By Bob Johnson
speakers on an annual conference panel, which celebrates success stories of organic farming producers. The panel was moderated by Monterey County organic farmer Javier Zamora, who immigrated from Mexico to work in restaurants in Los Angeles and went on to start a berry and vegetable farm that has grown to 200 acres. For Ornelas, a turning point in his family’s farming story came after his father be- came ill and required a heart and lung transplant. His father’s ordeal further motivated Ornelas to refashion the family farming operation into an all-organics venture. “We switched to organic and implemented rotations,” Ornelas said. His Jayleaf firm now boasts multiple farming sites, becoming a significant-scale grower, packer and shipper of organic spinach, arugula, kale, red mustard, tatsoi, red chard, mizuna, frisée, radicchio, spring mix, Asian mix and custom mixes. Jim Churchill offered another organics success story, which was highlighted at the EcoFarm Conference. Churchill converted his 12-acre Ojai Valley tangerine orchard to organic in 2004 because the volume of tangerines being planted in the Central Valley convinced him it
After working in strawberry fields, Jose Ornelas’ parents began farming themselves with seeds, a few hand tools and a small patch of leased land in San Benito County.
“An opportunity presented itself,” Ornelas said, for his parents to lease a single acre of land. They leaped at the chance. After har- vesting a few crops, they were able to afford a small shed and a stainless-steel washing table.
Ornelas helped them with weeding and administrative work, and went on to study business at California State University, San Jose. He later founded Jayleaf, an organic farming venture, which started out by brokering his parents’ greens. Soon, the Hollister-based firm grew and began supplying organic leafy greens and red, yellow and purple vegetables to restaurants. With the help of San Francisco whole- saler Veritable Vegetable, the company diversified to also supply retailers. “We have turned our passion for agriculture into a vertically integrated grower-pack- er-shipper serving both food service and retail,” Ornelas said. “We developed the ability to ship across the country. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s been rewarding.” Ornelas discussed his journey during a keynote panel of farmers at the 43rd Annual EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar in Pacific Grove. He was one of the featured
See SUCCESSES, Page 12
February 15, 2023 Ag Alert 11
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