Betting The Farm

The sandy soil of the local Agricultural Reserve may not look very appetizing, but it's fertile ground for bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, squash and other produce grown there during the winter months.

This county-owned land in the western areas of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach - dubbed the Ag Reserve - accounts for about 25 percent of Palm Beach County's agricultural production. If you like eating fresh veggies grown locally, you'll be happy to know that farmers harvest their crops there from November through March.

Growers also cultivate roses, pentas, crotons and other plants that thrive in our tropical climate. A few raise livestock and poultry, and some keep bees on the land.

But it's not all peaceful on these 22,000 acres. Farmers and developers have been at odds for years about the "right" use for the land.

A few lucky farmers are the beneficiaries of the $100 million bond that Palm Beach County voters approved in 1999 to save agriculture in the reserve, which falls between Florida's Turnpike on the east and the Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge on the west and stretches roughly from Clint Moore Road to Lantana Road. The county used the money to buy farmland and lease it back to the growers of 2,400 acres, setting up a place in the Ag Reserve where development is limited.

"It allows the growers to invest in equipment," says Palm Beach County Commissioner Paulette Burdick, an Ag Reserve supporter. "The bond shows everyone that the county is committed to keep farming in the Ag Reserve."

Pulled in different directions, the county commission is deciding whether it can afford the luxury of the reserve to save farming and limit development. Commissioners will decide soon whether they want to allow a 571-acre tract to continue to be farmed in western Delray Beach. The county and water district purchased the land for a reservoir, but the reservoir is no longer needed. Now, the county is considering selling the land with added zoning rights as a way to add an estimated $200 million to its coffers.

The county's property appraiser recently estimated the Ag Reserve has 7,885 acres that are classified agriculture, or about 35 percent. That's down from the approximately 13,000 acres, or 51 percent, of the Ag Reserve that was farmed one year after county voters approved the $100 million bond. More than 100 nurseries on 1,759 acres were said to be operating in 2000. Fourteen years later, the number of Ag Reserve nurseries dropped to closer to 60, according to the county's extension office.

Despite the gloomy outlook, two Ag Reserve growers - the Bowmans and the Bedners - asked the county in June to extend their leases to 2053 to show major grocery stores that they are committed to farming and to ensure that their families will have a future in agriculture. The county spent $38.5 million in 2001 buying the Bowman family farm, a 938-acre spread west of Delray Beach. It leases the property back to the Bowmans for $500 an acre.

The other properties that secured extensions are the 195-acre T&D Cattle Company and Exotics, also owned by the Bowmans, and the 262-acre Bedner Farm, west of Boynton Beach. The county bought the land of both operations in 2001, paying $9.9 million to the Bedners and $19 million to the Bowmans for the cattle-raising acreage. The county leases the land back to the growers at $500 an acre.

The Bedners have a retail market adjacent to their farm at the intersection of Lee Road and U.S. Route 441. When they opened Bedner's Farm Fresh Market in 2009, it was the first farmer-owned and operated green market in Palm Beach County (they now have a second market in Pineapple Grove in Delray Beach). The most popular items there are corn, tomatoes and other veggies. During winter months, shoppers can pick their own strawberries, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes and sunflowers.

Other growers have found a way to be successful without help from the county. Pero Family Farms has a western Delray Beach spread that includes a packing plant, which is part of Pero's vertical integration plan.

"We are the grower, packager and shipper," says Scott Seddon, brand manager. "We have more than 70 trucks in our fleet."

Pero farms 19,000 acres in Florida and grows produce in six countries, he says: "We don't want to have all of our eggs in one basket. We are going after brand recognition. Consumers are concerned about food safety and country of origin."

Pero has about 90 percent of the packaged green bean market in the United States, and Nielsen Data rates its mini sweet peppers as the No. 1 brand, Seddon says.

But other Ag Reserve growers say they can't keep up with the competition from Mexico. Whitworth Farms, west of Boynton Beach, has grown vegetables for nearly 70 years, or three generations. But, this year, the owners might not plant any crops on their 640 acres, where tomatoes, hot peppers, squash, zucchini and green bell peppers are normally grown.

"We're still working the numbers," says co-owner Glenn Whitworth. "We can't compete with the 4 cents a pound for tomatoes coming from Mexico. They have extremely low labor costs."

He points to a February study by the University of Florida revealing that Mexico was taking a bigger share of the national produce market since the North American Free Trade Agreement began in 1994. Mexico has much lower labor costs and higher government subsidies for growers, the study showed.

Whitworth called the Ag Reserve a "good concept" while stating that the county downgraded his land: "No farmer is cash rich. The money is in their land."

When setting up the Ag Reserve, the county also created tougher rules for developers, requiring them to set aside 6 acres for open space for every 4 acres they build on. That 60-40 rule limited the buyers for his land, Whitworth says.

Meanwhile, the county loosened restrictions for smaller growers, such as Homrich Nursery, a wholesale landscape grower in western Boynton Beach - much to the consternation of environmental groups. Steve Homrich has been growing shrubs and groundcovers on his 13 acres for 34 years. He calls the Ag Reserve a "huge experiment that was not tried elsewhere. They downgraded our land."

In 2016, Homrich and two other small growers lobbied the county commissioners to have their land classified as commercial, meaning they would not have to follow the 60-40 development rule, making it easier to sell. He says he's ready to retire and has the land on the market.

County Commissioner Burdick cast a "no" vote then against allowing the smaller growers to have their land classified commercial. At the time, she said changing the rules for smaller growers went against the spirit of the 1999 voter referendum. The change would have benefited only a small group of landowners, Burdick said.

Another group that wants to see the rules remain in place is the Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations. It represents 110 communities with 125,000 residents. The group monitors development in the Ag Reserve, advising the county commission on the projects and protecting the area from over- development. Its website offers a comprehensive look at the issue - and this strong statement: "COBWRA must stand firm in its commitment to preserve this western preserve area."

"We would like to see farming continue there because it provides us locally grown food and gives us open space," says Phil Barlage, COBWRA's new president. O