| However,
the DeBenedettos saw it differently. A fresh fig crop was
the difference from moving from a commodity business to a produce
style business. The DeBenedetto's had their eye on moving into
the fresh fig business 11 years ago. But it took the hand of all
the DeBenedetto's to make it happen.
Although figs had
been growing in the valley since the California missionaries had
planted them back in the 1700's, Mauro DeBenedetto, as a 9 year
old, immigrated with his mother and three siblings from Bari,
Italy, through Ellis Island to Fresno in 1915. The whole Fresno
area was dried fig crops back then, flourishing in the dry, arid
climate. By the time Mauro was 15 years old, and had lived with
the Munier family for 3 years, and was making his living working
odd jobs for them. The Munier family was the largest fig grower
in the valley of this time, Mauro also worked for a pump company
for a while, and then again as a tractor mechanic. Both of these
odd jobs would prove to be prophetic, as the knowledge that Mauro
gained during those working years would end up being instrumental
in some of the innovative techniques in fig farming that earned
the DeBenedettos their reputation .
Scraping together
enough money to buy their first 150 acres, the DeBenedettos started
out with dried fig crops, just like the other fig farmers of the
Fresno area. Dried fig crops are watered by the flooding method.
You flood the crops during the winter, and just let the water
seep down. They get no water during the spring and summer, and
it is not until the rains come in the fall that they get water
again. But since he had worked for a pump company, he knew how
to drill wells, so he dug two of the existing wells on the property
that are still being used today.
 Mauro continued farming until
his oldest son Maury Sr. joined him in 1959 after graduating from
Fresno State. Maury Sr. farmed with his father continuously until
Mauro's retirement. Their land acquisitions grew to 850 acres,
and by this time Maury Sr. had a wife and three sons and two daughters
of his own. As children, they fished, played and hunted on that
ground, and learned to own it themselves at a very young age.
From the time they were old enough to pitch in, they were working
the land on weekends and summers.
Mauro had been
known as an innovator in his time, but it would be Maury Sr. who
would take it two steps further. As Maury Sr. was able to delegate
more and more responsibilities to his sons, he used that time
to improve the techniques he used on the farm.
He first made news
with both surface and sub surface irrigation, a form of
underground irrigation in the early 70's. Innovative at the time,
drip irrigation is now the standard for fig farmers, which allows
for a more dense planting and higher yields for fig growers. The
cultural changes that were being made for fig production, ultimately
ended up being used in the future for fresh fig operations as
well.
Non cultivation
side benefits were reducing the amount of dust created in the
orchards, increasing the amount of beneficial insects, and ultimately
helped in the soil being able to retain moisture. |
They
laugh now about the fact that people used to think they were insane.
They continuously experimented with equipment that was intended
for different uses. They had converted walnut picking equipment
to fig picking.
They continuously
experimented to reduce labor. However the pruning is the real
proprietorial information. The whole family has been experimenting
with pruning since the 70's, looking for different methods to
enhance the quality of their fruit. The real turning point
took place when the youngest of the three sons, Mark DeBenedetto,
after graduating from college, went to work for a fruit packing
company is Los Osos . That is when he met the Todds, owners of
a 400 acre fig farm in Kern County,and started talking to them.
In 1991, the rarest of opportunities came along. Mark's ideas
of picking, packing and selling fresh figs, and an older couple's
wish to sell their fig property along with their equipment, sales
contracts and private label, was the DeBenedetto's opportunity
to step into the future with fresh figs being their primary business.
They started changing the orchard around and replanted to harvest
for fresh. It is a different style, you grow dried for tonnage,
and you grow fresh for hand picking. Over the last 8 or 9 years,
they have reversed the ratio of fresh to dried, fresh now representing
80% of the crop, and dried representing 20%.
This has put the
destiny . and the cash flow . back in the hands of the DeBenedetto's
. Now a produce style business, they no longer sell exclusively
to packers and wait all year for their money. By broadening the
usage of the crops they had, they were capitalizing on experiences
the whole family already had . and has worked continuously to
improve the product that they grow, and the method used to grow
it.
The DeBenedetto
farm now represents the premium fresh figs in the industry.
* Visit
our web site at www.fbworld.com to get the whole story on caprification.
6
Maury DeBenedetto
Sr., and his three sons
Nutrients
Provided in Serving Sizes
of Common Fruits
FRUIT
CALORIES • DIETARY FIBER •
POTASSIUM • CALCIUM
|
| Apples |
| (154
gr)1 med. |
91 |
3.0 |
177 |
11 |
|
| Bananas |
| (126
gr)1 med. |
75 |
1.7 |
324 |
4.9 |
|
| Date |
| (40gr)_
c. |
113 |
3.8 |
240 |
10 |
|
| Figs |
| (40gr)_
c. |
113 |
4.9 |
244 |
53 |
|
| Grape |
| (138gr)1.5
c |
98 |
.8 |
255 |
15 |
|
| Oranges |
| (154gr)1
med. |
72 |
2.9 |
279 |
62 |
|
| Prunes |
| (40gr)_ c |
109 |
2.4 |
290 |
7.2 |
|
| Strawberries |
| (147gr)
8med |
147 |
2.2 |
244 |
20.6 |
|
All Fig Facts were supplied by the California Fig Advisory
Board . History and Fig Facts.
|
|
