Sea Mist Farms' Success Story
Great career opportunities in agriculture await young people who see the advantages — not the misperceptions.
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Chris Drew of Sea Mist Farms was bitten by the ag bug at a young age. He refers to farming not just as work, but as a lifestyle. -
California's Sea Mist Farms grows 5.000 acres of vegetables, which includes 3,000 acres of artichokes. -
Top 100 grower Ocean Mist Farms produces nearly 80% of the artichokes in the U.S.Photo credit: David Eddy
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Artichoke Artists
You can’t bring up Ocean Mist Farms, and the division of the company for which Chris Drew serves as production manager, Sea Mist Farms, without talking artichokes. The company dominates the crop; it’s absolutely without peer as the largest artichoke grower in the world. Castroville, CA, is home to Ocean Mist, and is known as “Artichoke Center of the World” just because that’s where the company is headquartered.
Ocean Mist is responsible for nearly 80% of the U.S. crop, Drew says. It would be difficult to compete with Ocean Mist today if other growers had the inclination. Many of the annual varieties that are used to fill in any gaps in production from the traditional perennial varieties are proprietary to Ocean Mist, which has two plant breeders on staff.
Interestingly, the crop has a long tradition in the U.S. Drew says the perennial varieties were brought to California from the Mediterranean at the time of the Gold Rush in the mid-19th century, and were farmed in South San Francisco, where the city’s airport is now located. The perennial artichoke plants, which reach about 36 inches tall when mature, are pruned back like a fruit tree each May. “It’s a really interesting crop,” says Drew, who has been farming them for the past eight years and now oversees close to 3,000 acres of production.
“Artichokes just draw you in; you wouldn’t believe the number of cars that pull up this time of year (April) so people can take pictures of the fields,” he says. “It’s great to work with artichokes.”
Go to page three to learn more about Sea Mist's IPM program and Spanish language abilities.
