Farmers Respect and Appreciate Their Employees

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

In most businesses, the quality of the enterprise is dependent on the quality of the team. Farming is no different. 3rd generation Salinas Valley vegetable grower Mark Pisoni credits much of his success to the team he has around him.

Pisoni … “So I'm the farmer of our family, but I rely extremely heavily on our employees that have been with us for generations. I mean, these are guys and gals that know more about farming than I do. They've been out in the field their lifetimes, and they're constantly out there working every day. And they're paying attention to how the crops growing: if it needs water; if it needs fertilizer; if it needs different farming practices. And they're constantly thinking of ways to improve it. And it's cool because they're brave enough and they're smart enough to come up to me and be like, 'Hey Mark, we can be doing this different. And I know you told me to do this Mark, but I think this is a better way to do it'. And 99% of the time when they pitch an idea to me, it's a good idea. And I'm like, Hey, that's the way to go and I want to change what we're doing. And thanks for sharing your ideas with us.”

Pisoni says he has the benefit of working alongside people who have known him, in some cases, his whole life.

Pisoni … “As a kid, I got to work with a lot of these guys. So they got to watch me grow up and they watched me make tons of mistakes and they were super patient with me. And it's fabulous that I get to work with a, you know, a really outstanding talented group of guys and gal that I've been with for the longest time that really care about farming as much as I do, and they're constantly pushing the envelope to grow the very best vegetables we can.”