Branstrator Farm
885 North George Road
Clarksville, OH 45113
937-725-5607

juanito@i-nation.net
www.branstratorfarm.com 

Featured in Ohio Magazine, June 2005
Sweet Pickings
Ohio boasts an abundance of strawberry farms with summer treats that are ripe for harvesting. Click here.

April 26, 2005

No Frost on These Berries 

Source: Jon Branstrator 

CLARKSVILLE, OHIO - The fantastic flavor and aroma of locally grown, field ripened strawberries will come earlier this year. The earliness comes from two sources, the first comes from a burst of above average temperatures in early April and the other comes from Ohio State University.
      Thanks to the work done by Brad Bergefurd at OSU’s South Centers at Piketon, we have been able to be a cooperator on Brad’s pioneering research and field trials. The berries are planted in September on 11" high beds that have had black plastic mulch applied to them. When the temperature cools we pull what is called a floating row cover over the beds to raise the temperature and help the plants grow into winter.  The Strawberry plants started to flower in early April which means that the fruit will be ripe in early to mid May. All of this early flowering means that there will be a good chance of  frost or freeze damage. The floating row covers gives us a few degrees of protection but we also back them up with irrigation. This is exactly what we did 4/24  at 3 am, the wind was blowing 25 miles an hour, the temperature was below freezing and we had to walk through the spraying water to check the nozzles. Was it worth it? You tell us when you enjoy that bowl of home grown strawberries in May!
      The berries will be available from the farm, Lebanon Farmers Market and selected local Farm Markets. Please call 937-725-5607 or check www.branstratorfarm.com for more information

Cincinnati Enquirer, October 2, 2004
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/02/biz_biz1pump.html

By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

This year's crop of pumpkins is phat, and growers are happy.

The pumpkins cropping up around Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in recent weeks are not necessarily more plentiful than in years past, but they are bright and plump.

Just ask Jon Branstrator, owner of a 180-acre farm in Clarksville, southwest of Wilmington in Clinton County.

"Last year, my yield was outstanding, but quality is better this year," said Branstrator.

This year Branstrator is even growing a variety called "Phat Jack" - a variety of pumpkins with good color, strong stems and a weight of anywhere from 60 to 80 pounds.

A good pumpkin crop is highly dependent on when it rains and how much it rains, said Joe Gillespie, a retired horticulturist and volunteer master gardener for Ohio State University Extension in Clermont County.

"We had good rainfall this year, but it was well distributed over the full length of the growing season," Gillespie said.

The same cannot be said of the rest of Ohio, where some pumpkin growers have had good yields, some average, some none.

An unusual mix of weather - "everything from too dry and too wet to just right in between" is to blame, according to Brad Bergefurd, horticulture educator for Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon.

"In Clinton County, where I live, there hasn't been enough rain," Bergefurd said.

"But some farmers in Akron lost everything because of flooding."

Rotating crops

Branstrator grows his pumpkins on 23 acres and practices crop rotation with strawberries, corn, soybeans and wheat to improve soil fertility and help control insects and diseases.

He planted one acre of the Phat Jack seed, which was developed by a Michigan farmer, according to Branstrator.

"I kind of use it as a bait to sell more pumpkins," he said. "They've got a stem on them like a tree stump - it's amazing."

Branstrator also does soil testing and analysis as part of a three-state study on pumpkin growth.

Last year, his high pumpkin yield saved a lot of Warren County growers whose crops failed because of disease, including Steve Dowd, owner of Lovely's Farm in Springboro. Dowd bought pumpkins from Branstrator to sell at Lovely's, a 20-acre farm on Ohio 73.

"It's a 180-degree turnaround - like night and day," Dowd said of the difference between his pumpkin crops the past two years. "It's not so much the weight and size - it's the quality. Last year's pumpkins had more disease, and this year's are excellent."

Good-quality pumpkins are bold in color, have strong stems and have no lesions or spots from diseases. They also last longer.

Pumpkin growing season begins in late spring and early summer. Last year, growers struggled with too much rain in the spring, which spurred diseases.

The year before, drought conditions put a damper on the crops. Yet regardless of the weather conditions, pumpkins are always prone to late summer diseases, such as powdery mildew, which is common in Ohio and infects pumpkins, ornamental gourds, cucumbers, melon and squash.

'A real good year'

At Hollmeyer Orchards in Hamilton County's Green Township, the rain this year and last year turned out two good pumpkin crops - and cut production costs.

"We have an irrigation system that we used every year for 25 years, until last year," said 82-year-old Ray Hollmeyer, who works the farm part time with his son, Ron. "This is a real good year as far as we're concerned because we had plenty of rain and our pumpkins are extremely large."

Northern Kentucky farmers are seeing similar results in their pumpkin quality, said David Koester, University of Kentucky extension agent for horticulture in Campbell County.

"Pumpkins were a little early this year, and we thought we would have a problem with that, but it hasn't been the case," Koester said.

Campbell County has about 10 acres of pumpkin crops. Koester said the county's biggest grower is Tony Vogel of Vogel Farms in Melbourne.

Vogel grows only pumpkins on his fourth-generation, 100-acre family farm.

A banker, Vogel picked up the family business two years ago. He started small with 50 pumpkin plants and went big this year with 5,000.

Vogel said he and a nephew did all of the work by hand.

Their yield: more than 10,000 good-quality pumpkins, ranging in size from 20 pounds to 75 pounds, and a couple of "odd-looking" hybrids that top 135 pounds.

Vogel attributes the crop success to hard work, good rainfall and plentiful honeybees. He has four hives on site.

"Ninety-eight percent of pumpkins are pollinated by bees, 2 percent by wind," he said. "I have to give the bees credit. They work hard too."

Ohio among nation's top producers

Ohio is among the top six pumpkin producing states in the nation. The other leaders are Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and California.

Together, the number of pumpkins grown in the six states account for nearly 90 percent of the nation's pumpkin production.

In 2002 (the last census year for this data) 5,564 acres of pumpkins were harvested in Ohio. The estimate for 2003's harvest (based on a sample survey) is 4,000 acres.

The retail price of pumpkins per pound, which has stayed about the same for the past six years, is 25 to 35 cents.

The wholesale price of pumpkins per pound is 15 to 20 cents a pound.

Pumpkins grown in Ohio generate roughly $25 million a year in local sales and exports to southern states.

Sources: James Ramey, director of the Ohio Agricultural Statistics Service near Columbus; and Mac Riedel, Ohio State University vegetable specialist