Farm Continued from Page 7
Pear orchards grow at Steamboat Acres, left, along the Sacramento River. Below, Mike Neuharth holds a crate honoring his step-great- grandfather LeRoy Campbell Peck, who died in 1958.
neighbor about a pear tree’s life expectan- cy and was told about 160 years. “The joke among pear farmers is, you don’t plant pear trees for you—you plant pear trees for your kids,” Neuharth said. As with the family itself, the next gener- ation of trees is already growing. Neuharth said the 135-year-old trees are spaced about 20 feet apart, and he’s planted newer trees among the elders. “When those really old trees die,” Neuharth said, “at least there’s a tree there that’s taking up some of that slack.” Steamboat Acres sits on 300 acres near Steamboat Slough, just down and across the river from the delta towns of Courtland and Paintersville, the latter of which no longer exists. Courtland is at the heart of Sacramento River delta pear country. The county produced more than 5,000 acres of pears in 2021, according to the Sacramento County crop report. The oblong fruit is celebrated annually with the Pear Fair, which has taken place in Courtland the last Sunday of July since 1972, although the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a two-year hiatus. The fair features, among other things, a breakfast with pear mimosas, pear pie-eating con- tests, live music, historical exhibits and, of course, pears for sale. Neuharth said he’s been taking a break
from the fair in recent times but is thinking of getting back into it. “People come from all over for the fair,” he said. “People are really, really happy and excited to know that there’s a certified (or- ganic) grower out here doing it that way.” So excited that he goes home with laryngitis. “(I) pretty much don’t have a voice
after the Pear Fair because I’ve educated so many people about how long it takes to grow pears and where they come from, and where they originated, and what we’re doing,” Neuharth said. The fair coincides with the harvest of Bartlett pears, the variety most prevalent at Steamboat Acres. Neuharth says har- vest generally begins the second or third week of July and runs two to three weeks. To ensure they reach market in ideal con- dition, Neuharth picks pears while they’re still green. “Everybody thinks you pick them yel- low,” Neuharth said, which is a bad idea because they’ll go bad before they get to the store. “Over the course of time, going from our farm to the packinghouse and then from the packinghouse to the cold storages, and then from the cold storages to the stores, they start to ripen a little bit over time.” Pears aren’t Neuharth’s only game. He also grows wheat, safflower and alfalfa, along with cherries. His farm once ran a pumpkin patch and grew organic vegetables. Even while looking to the future, Neuharth is mindful of those who came before and, to borrow a sports saying, left it all on the field. “They put their blood, sweat and tears
into our farm here and these pears, and everything else we’ve done here,” Neuharth said. “There’s a huge, huge sense of responsibility.” He looks to his children—son Raylan, 6, and his 4-year-old twins (she’s River, he’s Reed)—as being the up-and-coming sev- enth generation. “I think it’s important that we continue to maintain what we have here—not only just for us, me personally, and the previous generations, but for the next generation,” Neuharth said. With that, he added, comes the responsibility of teaching his successors everything they need to know to uphold what Neuharth calls “our family heritage.” “I couldn’t be prouder,” he said. “It’s a huge sense of pride, and there’s humility in that, too. We’re really blessed with what we have here. It’s just myself and my dad and my wife. We’re just trying to be good stewards of our lands and trying to contin- ue this on and feed the world.” (Kevin Hecteman is a contributing writer for California Bountiful ® magazine, where this article was first published in the July/August 2023 issue.)
Grants boost organic goals The California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation is accepting ap- plications for its new Organic Transition Pilot Program. The program will accept applications through Sept. 15.
Minimum awards for block grants are set at $500,000, with a maximum award of up to $2 million per applicant organi- zation. Grant terms may not exceed three years. Lead applicants are encouraged to collaborate and network with organiza- tions supporting socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Application materials and addi- tional information may be found at www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/otp/.
The program will award grants to orga- nizations that support farmers and ranch- ers managing acres they intend to transi- tion to organic operations. Awardees are to assist farmers and ranchers with services such as organic management consulta- tion, translation, business planning and organic certification applications.
8 Ag Alert August 2, 2023
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