A brief tour that help produce the berries and marketing techniques

Tag : strawberry
Strawberry farmers from across the country spent the past few daystouring Ohio, and spent most of Thursday, Aug. 21, in ChampaignCounty. More than 70 farmers from the North American StrawberryGrowers Association spent their morning touring the Champaign BerryFarm and the Rothschild Berry Farm in Urbana.

The tour, an annual two-day event for association members, alsoincluded stops in Fremont, Dublin, Troy, Willard and Lexington.Mike Pullins, owner of the Champaign Berry Farm, said he provided a brief tour that included growing methods, modified equipment usedto help produce the berries and marketing techniques.

Although they were members of the strawberry growers association,Pullins said most grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. Abouttwo-thirds of the group members also grow raspberries, he said."It's just natural that they learn a lot from other farmers'operations, Pullins said.

For many of the growers on the tour, learning how other farms arerun is a big part of the tour's appeal. "You try to copy offeveryone else," joked Steve Polter, a past president of NASGA.Polter, who owns a farm in Fremont, Ohio, grows corn, beans andberries on 2,000 acres of land in northern Ohio.

Along with the Champaign Berry Farm, members also split into twogroups at the Rothschild Berry Farm. Some took a quick boxed lunch,others took a tour of the raspberry fields, as well as a formalEnglish garden at the entrance of the property.

Brian Kampman, grounds manager at Rothschild's, providedexplanations about which berries grow best on the property, as wellas explaining the purpose and composition of the garden.

Bill Jacobson of White Bear Lake, Minn., said he grows about 20acres of strawberries. He said the group has previously taken toursin Toronto, New York and Nova Scotia, among others. "You just comehere and gain more experience," he said.