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Coming Back to Yori's Groveback to list

Family Farm Adapts to Changing Pressures

by Cindy Toy

South of Modesto in the San Joaquin Valley, farmers have planted mile after mile of orchards—walnuts, pears, almonds, apples. The flatness is remarkable. It’s a wonder that three brothers from the Swiss Alps chose to settle here nearly a century ago. Yet what this land lacks in topography, it makes up in the fertile soil that has sustained the Yori family for five generations.

Near the small Valley town of Ceres, two of those first generation Yori brothers married sisters, bought 320 acres at $35 an acre, and built a sturdy home from handmade brick. Together they cleared land for pasture, built a dairy, and planted grapes and orchards. In time, Antone and Celeste Yori’s son, Edwin, built his own home across the road. Now Ed’s grandson, Shane, lives there with his wife and two children.

Strength to Return and Adapt

How have the Yoris been able to keep their land for five generations? The family’s strength lies in its ability to respond to the problems and cycles of life and the farm. When Ed Yori’s children, Jon and Janiene, left after high school, they had no definite plans to return. Faced with managing the farm alone, Ed sold forty acres to a neighbor to make ends meet, and leased another forty acres to a cousin for grapes. Jon believes that if the family had not returned, his father would have kept selling the land piece-by-piece until it was all gone.

One farm survival strategy, sometimes unplanned, is for a family member to get a job off the farm. Jon remembers his grandmother urging him to go to college so he could get a job with the Gallos, the area’s largest employer. After college, Jon married and did go to work for the Gallo Snelling Ranch, where he gained invaluable experience in farming and marketing, managing 3,500 acres of apples—possibly the largest planting in the nation.

Eighteen years later, when his father became ill, Jon came home to care for his family’s land. “The farm would never have made it,” Janiene pointed out, “if Jon hadn’t been able to save a portion of his salary at Gallo.” Reflecting on the years he worked at Gallo, Jon said, “There’s a huge support system there. They have many departments that we don’t have. Here, it’s just us. It’s tough for family farmers.”

After Jon’s return, other family members came back to the ranch, too. Janiene, who was living in Marin County, met and married Rudy Platzek, an urban and regional planner. They moved back to the farm and then her children, Kurt and Lani, followed suit. “I studied to become a school teacher,” Lani explained. “But at this point, working on the farm is better than teaching.”

Family Management Gives Flexibility

It was clear to Jon when he took over the family farm that he needed to start in a new direction. Using the skills he had learned from managing the Gallo apple ranch, Jon planted 300 acres of fresh market apples and 80 acres of almonds.

One of the first things Janiene did when she came back was computerize the farm accounts. She and Lani now manage the farm office. “I absolutely couldn’t have done it without computers,” Janiene says. “Apples are very labor-intensive. And the bank requires detailed budgets.” The Yori Ranches employ family members and a few other full-time workers year-round, and about 150 people during the peak harvest season.

Lani is in charge of paying the bills, payroll, and searching out marketing opportunities for the apples. The family tries to stay ahead of the public’s changing tastes. “Varieties come and go,” said Jon. “Granny Smith was popular a few years ago, so we planted Grannies. Then Fujis and Galas came along. Now Fujis and Galas are over-planted. Luckily apples are easy to graft.”

The family has decided to convert a block of almonds to organic production practices. The sandy soil of that orchard is now mulched with composted manure from a local source and planted with cover crops, including vetch, oats, peas, and bell beans.

“Cover crops are the most important soil fertility factor in the long run, building the soil’s microbial population,” Rudy explained. “The strips of cover crops also provide food for beneficial insects.”

“Apples definitely require very watchful management,” Jon emphasized. “The spraying schedules are intense, although with careful monitoring practices we use much less spray then other growers in the Valley. Farm management is not a picnic. There’s a lot going on all at once. Sometimes in the summer we work round-the-clock days, with harvest and irrigation schedules.” When asked about vacations, the family responded with laughter.

Working Together Works

Perhaps the most important factor in keeping the family farm has been the support the Yoris offer one another. “First I came home,” Jon recalled, “then the boys and Janiene and Lani. It just came together. There have been a lot of rough years, but when you work together long enough, you get to know each other pretty well. Not that we don’t have our moments,” he laughed. “But they are all trivial to the whole picture.”

Many years ago Antone and his brother donated several acres planted with eucalyptus trees to the Swiss Club of Stanislaus County. A clubhouse was built there and the place is known as Yori’s Grove. The local community of friends, neighbors, and relatives still meets once a month for the Swiss dinners at Yori’s Grove.

In the old days, Ed Yori was always in charge of cooking the beans for the Club’s annual Swiss Picnic. Now Janiene has taken over the job. “Coming back,” she said, “we all just sort of picked up where we left off.”

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