PHOTOS BY JERRY WOLKOWITZ Nick Russo, owner of Russo’s Orchard Lane Farm, stands in a greenhouse full of fall crop tomatoes. Russo has ensured the future agricultural use of his land by placing it into the state’s farmland preservation program.
Warren Schuch, owner of the Turf Grass Sod Farms in Howell, remembers when he and his crew would sit in the middle of the road to have their lunch and not see a car pass until they were done.
Today, he needs a traffic light just to get his tractor across that same road to work his land.
It won’t matter much either way pretty soon, because the 81-year-old farmer said he’s hoping to retire next year. And with his retirement may go some of the prettiest "eye candy" that now graces county Route 524 in Howell.
Schuch plans to sell his farm and would like to see it sold as a farm, but unless someone with farming in his blood and one who is hell-bent on keeping tradition buys it, Schuch said the majority of his 300 acres will probably end up as housing developments, a fact that deeply saddens the veteran farmer.
Milton Anderson, manager of Turf Grass Sod Farm, takes a piece of sod off the conveyor belt and places it on a pallet on a sod harvester, as he works in a field off Route 524, Howell.
There is a possibility that some portion of his land would be appropriated for parks and recreation. This thought pleases him. And although the farm has given him what he’s needed, when the time comes for it to go, it will go either way, said Schuch.
"It’s of no use to me anymore. It’s given me what I needed over the years. It’s given me a very pleasurable living," commented the farmer. "I loved every minute of it. There’s no reason to deprive someone else of this pleasure, should someone be interested in farming and has enough money to buy it."
But, the farmer admits that "no farmer can afford to buy a farm and make a living in this area."
"When I bought this farm it was cheap. It’s not cheap today," said Schuch, explaining that he was lucky because inflation came along and made all land more valuable.
The price of equipment such as this sod harvester in use at Turf Grass Sod Farm, Howell, has made modern farming a costly venture in Western Monmouth County.
Schuch experienced his first taste of the farming life when he was a child visiting his grandfather’s farm.
"I was just a little fellow then, about 6 or 7 years old when I started. I would help my grandfather grow flowers on his farm on Staten Island, N.Y.," he said.
Farming seems to be in your blood, as so many farmers have revealed in these conversations with Greater Media Newspapers. But you either have it or you don’t, and apparently it can skip a generation or two once in a while. Schuch’s father, according to the farmer, sold antiques on Madison Avenue in New York City. He hated farming and so did his uncle. Neither of them stayed in it.
Schuch expressed a highly modern viewpoint for such a traditional gentleman.
"I’ve always told my kids you must like what you do in life," he said. "Pick something you truly love doing, something that makes you happy and do it. Improve on it. Most people don’t do what they really want to do once they go out on their own. I did. I did what I always wanted to do."
He’s a firm believer in giving whatever you choose as your forte, all you’ve got.
"When you go to work, go a little earlier and then stay a little later. People notice that," he said.
Schuch’s three children have all opted to steer away from the farming life. When asked if they had worked on the farm, Schuch smiled.
"They never worked it, but they all own parts of it," he said.
The smile accompanying the comment was genuinely sincere.
His oldest son, Warren, studied law and works as a prosecutor in Virginia. His daughter, Beverly, has her own CNBC television show on Sunday morning called Pinnacle, and Karl, the youngest child of Ruth and Warren Schuch, works as a mechanical engineer in Maryland.
According to Schuch, his children all helped out while they were in college, then went their own way.
"They found out they could make a lot more money out there than on the farm." he said.
Schuch developed a serious interest in farming during his high school years. After spending some time in the Air Force, he attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick where he earned a degree in agronomy.
Schuch and his wife, Ruth, purchased their first farming venture with a partner, Luther LeBarre. They bought a 17-acre sod farm in Millburn, Essex County. After several years it became apparent that there wasn’t enough room to grow the sod fast enough, so they purchased land in Central Jersey. In 1951 they began their residency as Howell farmers with 100 acres, and over the course of the next several years added more than 200 acres of industrial land on Route 524.
The two men remained partners until 1988 when they both decided it was time to separate.
"I had three children; he had three children. We reached the age where it was necessary to split up. We’re still good friends," Schuch said.
According to Schuch, LeBarre still works the 17 acres in Millburn that he has since converted into a small garden center.
After 50 years of farming, Schuch still maintains a regular working schedule, although much lighter than years ago. He starts his day at 6:15 a.m. and he works until after lunch. When asked if he still rode the tractor, he replied, "Not in the last few days. It’s been kind of chilly."
(Kind of? Yes, farmers are tough.)
Schuch loves what he does, commenting that he has always loved to work outdoors, calling farming a "manly" job. He’s happy that he’s been able to do what his grandfather did.
Besides the weather, which Schuch said is his worst enemy, living in an area which has grown so much over the years has caused a number of changes that have affected his farm, one of which is the theft of his equipment.
"The area has grown so much and so many of the people here are not rural people anymore. It’s very discouraging. We had a large amount of irrigation pipe stolen recently, and it’s happening more and more all the time. This used to be a very close-knit community of friendly people. So much has changed," he said.
Schuch said he already has contracts for a housing development on 87 of his Howell acres on Route 524.
"Farming is not a great business for earning high wages," said the farmer. "The only way to make money in farming today is to sell the land you farm."
Since no one is interested in taking over his farm, Schuch will go ahead with the sale when it’s time.
"Young people are more interested in working in a nice air-conditioned and heated office," he laughed. "Girls and football, that’s what my grandsons are interested in."
Schuch then echoed the same sentiments his fellow farmers in this series expressed before him. His face mirrored the same expression, his eyes the same sadness when he said, "You have the farm for so long, it becomes a part of you. It’s almost like selling a piece of yourself. This will all be gone someday. That’s how it works."
The old adage "behind every successful man stands a successful woman" still rings true but with a few necessary changes. It might now read: "Beside every successful farmer stands, in many cases, a supportive and hard-working woman."
Marilyn Russo, now a farmer’s wife, was born a "Navy brat." Russo said she decided to marry a farmer so she’d never have to move again. She’s been on the farm ever since she married her farmer husband, Nick. She’s been living and working on her family farm, Russo’s Orchard Lane Farm in Chesterfield, and loving her role as the farmer’s wife.
Russo said the business started in the early 1900s when her husband’s grandfather, Anthony Russo, came from Italy to settle in Mount Holly, where he purchased the first Russo vegetable farm. According to Marilyn Russo, they’re fourth-generation farmers.
Their farm currently grows fruits and vegetables and has 12 greenhouses full of tomatoes. The current farm on Extonville Road, near Upper Freehold Township, was purchased in 1973 by Russo’s father-in-law, Nicholas Sr. He purchased the property in Chesterfield because he felt Mount Holly had become too congested and they needed more room to farm their products, she said.
The current vegetable farm consists of 150 acres that are owned and operated by the Russos and another 100 acres that they rent close by.
Russo said she’s one of the lucky ones; the couple have two children who are interested in farming. Their son Michael, 33, who works full time on the farm now, and their daughter Terry, 38, are both planning to stay in farming. Terry works full time in the farm market, which at this time of the year becomes a Christmas store that sells wreaths, poinsettias, crafts and other articles for the holidays.
"We’re so glad to have our children continue our business and tradition," stated Russo. "To keep it going, especially nowadays, is a wonderful thing."
Nick Russo Jr. explained that he and his wife, Marilyn, placed their farm in the farmland preservation program, a fact that pleases them very much. They’re happy their farm will stay a farm. The farmer said they did this because they were fortunate enough to have children who were interested in staying on the farm.
"We’re happy we’re in the preservation program," stated the farmer. "We feel we are leaving a legacy to our children and to the area, as well."
Nick Russo explained that when a farmer joins the preservation program, he sells the development rights to his property to the state, thereby ensuring that if it is ever sold, it can only be for agricultural purposes.
"We joined the program about five years ago," stated the farmer. "We were one of the first in the area. We did this to ensure the farm would stay in the family because we have children who are interested in continuing the tradition of farming."
Russo explained that the farmland preservation program will protect his son’s future.
He added that they plan to stay in farming as long as they can.
"We’re going to do our best to stay in it. When it’s no longer feasible for us to continue to do it, then it’s time to get out," he concluded.
"When you think about how hard my husband’s grandfather worked and what he had to do to buy this farm, it’s a great feeling to know that it will always stay a farm," added Marilyn Russo.
The family life revolves around the farm, according to Russo.
"Even though only Michael and Terry are interested in farming, Nick, 40, who works for Public Service, and Michele, 29, who works as an accountant, are still very involved in the family farm life.
"It’s still in their blood," said their mother.
The living proof of that fact is the appearance of their grandfather, Nicholas Sr., on the farm every day. According to Nick Jr., his 77-year-old father, a veteran farmer, lives in Mount Holly but still spends at least six hours a day at the family farm, running errands, planting corn and working his land.
Marilyn has spent most of her life farming.
"I love it. It’s a lot of work and it takes a lot of time. You do have to give up some things, especially in the summer, but you learn to adjust," she said, adding that she still loves to watch her husband grow things. "He wants everything to be the best."
Russo has carried her farm-wife career into the community as well. A member of the New Jersey Farm Bureau Women’s Committee, she’s very focused on issues that affect farms and the people who work them.
She explained that the main purpose of the organization is to provide educational programs that promote agriculture in the state and to educate the youth of New Jersey about farms and the farming life. The committee is also very concerned with issues that affect farmers, their families and their children.
The main issues affecting farmers today, according to Marilyn Russo, are the price of commodities, the cost of labor and keeping the kids on the farm. These issues are the same issues that worried farm women 50 years ago.
"Our clothing and styles may have changed and we may live with microwaves, computers and other conveniences in our modern world, but there’s no less work for a farm wife," she said.
Farms, said the farmer’s wife, need to be made more workable and more profitable so that farmers can keep their families together. She cites the fact that some farmers’ wives must work outside the home to secure benefits and insurance in order to allow the farmer to keep working the farm.
"We’re lucky we are preserving our farm for our children, their families and the whole area. But people still don’t seem to understand, we need to preserve the farmer, too," she added.
This is another in a series of stories about area farmers and challenges they face in a changing suburbia.