BILL WITMAN NAMED
2009 FARMER OF THE YEAR
If you know Bill Witman, you likely found from that first handshake with him that you had established not only a lifelong friend; you had also met a down-to-earth, trusted advisor, mentor and compassionate friend whose wisdom was borne out of a deep wellspring of life experiences. And amid the hard-earned wisdom he willingly shares with others, one hears not bragging rights for the many successes he has enjoyed throughout his farming career, but a double-dose of humility, for farmers seem to know better than most that the good times are not the norm; they only punctuate years of hard work and tumultuous challenges that are not for the risk averse. Weathering myriad highs and lows—often dictated by the whims of Mother Nature—it’s a life path they remain passionate about nonetheless. That is the essence of Bill Witman, and to recognize his lifetime of commitment to local agriculture, Henry William (“Bill”) Witman III has been selected as San Diego County Farm Bureau’s 2009 Farmer of the Year. He will be honored by family, friends and the agriculture community Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
“Bill imparts such wisdom through so many interesting farmer-type adages that are humorous and self-deprecating, but the advice always rings very true,” said Wally Besuden of Three C Growers in the San Pasqual Valley and one of many longtime partnerships Witman formed over the years. “My favorite saying of Bill’s is ‘We have to be careful how proud we become of our humility.’ Whenever he was faced with a difficult challenge, I never heard him say ‘it can’t be done.’ He would make it happen.”
The early days at Santa Margarita Ranch
It was Witman’s father, Henry William (“Harry”) Witman Jr., who led his family’s foray into farming in the 1930s when he began dry farming barley and wheat on a leased piece of the sprawling Santa Margarita Ranch that is known today as Camp Pendleton. Harry’s strong work ethic soon earned him a position as a ranch manager overseeing Santa Margarita’s extensive cattle operation, and at one point he even pastured his own herd of sheep there. Harry met a number of the early pioneering farm families, such as Harry Singh and Ed Frazee “when we were all sharecroppers,” Bill said, using the outdated term that aptly described them. After abandoning dry farming and planting a 100-acre lemon orchard, Harry and fellow sharecropper Paul Sloop decided they could both improve their chances of staying in farming if they formed a partnership. Bill learned from observing this partnership that it was a common way to finance a farming operation and a mutually beneficial way to do business that he would employ in the future.
The Witman-Sloop partnership would continue and even expand under Bill’s management after returning from his stint in the Army during the Korean War, where he served stateside in Tacoma, Washington and Augusta, Georgia as a lieutenant overseeing the stockade of army prisoners. (“I’ve always been a people-person, even then,” he joked.) He returned to Oceanside with his new bride, Betty, a farmer’s daughter from Savannah, and accepted a job as a foreman of the lemon grove at the Santa Margarita Ranch. It wasn’t long before Sloop recommended a new venture growing sweet potatoes in the San Luis Rey area of Oceanside. The operation grew to 500 acres and included a partnership with a cannery facility and other crops like cauliflower, celery, bell peppers and cabbage. It proved successful and continued for 20 years, when Sloop proposed moving the sweet potato growing operation to the San Pasqual Valley where he believed the soil and climate would grow an even better crop. The City of San Diego was interested in leasing out the land on 30-year contracts, and Sloop found some investors willing to back them, including their plan to establish an orange grove.
Moving to San Pasqual Valley
In 1966, Witman leased his first 300 acres in San Pasqual Valley and planted his initial orchard of Valencias along with some lemon trees, adding Ed Backus to the Witman-Sloop partnership. Backus, a Santa Margarita Ranch grower, former marine officer, and San Diego County Farm Bureau’s President in 1973, had already partnered with Witman in running the local Santa Margarita Ranch Water District. When the Witmans found a nice piece of property for sale adjacent to the leased land in 1971, they decided it would be a great location to build a new home where their children, Karen, Amy and Matt could grow up in a rural environment and even raise a few horses.
Meanwhile, the Witman-Sloop-Backus trio had decided that, in addition to growing sweet potatoes, Valencias and lemons in the San Pasqual Valley, they would also plant many of the vegetable crops that had been successful in San Luis Rey. That latter move turned out to be a disaster. The partners discovered that, despite its generally great climate, soil and ample groundwater supply, the San Pasqual Valley could experience occasional cold snaps, and most of the vegetable and row crops they had planted were lost in a freeze. With the crop financed by the bank, Witman found himself unable to repay the loan, pay his workers, or borrow funds to plant a new crop. Thanks to a long and trustworthy track record of paying his bills and the many personal and professional relationships nurtured over the years, he was allowed to secure a new loan through the bank, repay his workers, pay off the debt over time, and move forward.
“I ate more humble pie that year than I care to remember,” Witman said, reflecting on that difficult time.
Expanding the ranch
In the years ahead, Witman took on additional partnerships, and planted more oranges and lemons in the San Pasqual Valley. He also formed a long and prosperous partnership with the Frazee family of Oceanside, growing 100 acres of gladiolus for the bulbs that were harvested specifically for the coastal flower grower. Witman and Besuden formed partnerships growing palm trees in Bandy Canyon, and an avocado and grapefruit ranch in Ramona. When his son, Matt, became a partner in 1982, he introduced an organic focus into the business and also grew watermelon, corn, and other row crops which were supplied to local stores. In recent years, the row crops have given way to growing sod and more palm trees through contract agreements with other growers.
As son Matt gradually took over the day-to-day farming operations, Witman spent more time sharing his ag knowledge with related organizations that would strengthen the local industry. Since 1988, he has been an active member (and one of the longer-standing members) of U.C. Riverside’s Chancellor’s Agricultural Advisory Council, which advises on the agricultural issues that the university should be focusing on through research and outreach. He was a founding member of the San Pasqual Agricultural Association (which became the San Pasqual Lake Hodges Planning Group). The association is made up of growers leasing land from the City of San Diego for the purpose of providing feedback to the city on land/leasing issues in which they have a mutual interest. He is also a past president of the LaVerne Coop Lemon Association.
“Farming is so rewarding,” Witman says. “When things run smoothly and happen like they’re supposed to happen—those are successes in this business. In a partnership, you need to work with people you trust. So my success really depends on the people who work with me and who are around me.”
Insights from fellow growers
It is also Witman’s experience, combined with his soft-spoken, earnest and articulate “glass half full” outlook that impresses those who know him.
Chuck Badger Sr., a longtime Farm Bureau board member and past president (1986-88) who is a past member of the San Diego Agriculture Advisory Council, recalled times Witman addressed the council on water issues, a subject on which Witman was well versed.
“It was a treat to watch him work with the council,” said Badger, Farm Bureau’s 1989 Farmer of the Year, who recalled an instance 30 years ago when the City of San Diego was pursing a plan to put meters on wells. “It’s hard to deal with people who don’t know much about what farmers actually do. But he was very astute in the way he communicated and educated them—and convinced them not to do it.”
“People look up to Bill and listen when he talks,” said Mike Mellano, Sr., Farm Bureau’s 1988 Farmer of the Year, who, like Witman, has also been a longtime member of the U.C. Riverside’s Chancellor’s Agricultural Advisory Council. “He has a very disarming personality and a unique way of saying things. He can say what people may not particularly want to hear but need to hear, and say it without causing a confrontation.”
Witman may now be 81 years old and “partially retired,” but he still stops in at the ranch every day to keep in touch with the pulse of the business, talk with the workers (some of whom are second generation employees), read the Wall Street Journal, and “generally stay out of everyone’s way,” he likes to say. But he’s also enjoying the fruits of his labor. Having deferred vacations for many years to run the ranch, he and Betty have enjoyed a number of adventurous trips around the globe, including India, China, Russia, Antarctica, and Africa, taking diving excursions at many of those destinations like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, as well as river rafting down South Africa’s Zambezi River.
San Diego County Farm Bureau Past Farmers of the Year