Hmong Growers Meet At Farm Conference
March 12, 2008
VISALIA, Calif. — California growers welcomed fellow Hmong farmers to their annual Small Farm Conference last week in the heart of the fertile San Joaquin Valley.
With more than 400 farming folks in attendance, 31 representatives of the Hmong community took part in the conference’s events and workshops in downtown Visalia’s Marriott Hotel on Feb. 24 to 26.
The vibrant, down-to-earth gathering offered special sessions and materials in the Hmong language, including basics on land selection, soil improvement practices, soil amendments, crop nutrition, integrated pest management, record keeping and business issues for new farmers. Hmong participants all received conference scholarships.
Pang Eng Chang shows off his new daikon machine to visiting Small Farm Conference goers in Visalia, Calif., on Feb. 25.
___________________________________________
“For years, they’ve been trying to get the conference to put a priority on scholarships,” says Sharon Nance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “It’s crossing some of those bridges that makes a difference.”
Michael and Phoua Yang, a husband-and-wife team of state agricultural specialists originally from Southeast Asia, helped facilitate the conference’s outreach to Hmong farmers. Michael Yang represents Southeast Asian small farms and specialty crops for the University of California Cooperative Extension, and Phoua Yang works with the Farm Service Agency of the USDA.
According to Michael Yang, the Southeast Asian community in the Fresno area numbers approximately 30,000, and roughly 1,500 of those are Hmong and Lao farmers. Other Southeast Asian ethnic growers like the Lahu tend to congregate in the vicinity of Visalia, while Mien farmers (another ethnic group from Laos) are scattered throughout the region.
Hmong farmers after a training session at the conference
_________________________________________
Along with Minnesota, the area hosts one of the largest Hmong communities in North America, including a 24-hour, community-owned Hmong radio station (1210 AM), Lao Family Community organizations and the Fresno Center for New Americans. Since the 1980s, growing numbers of Southeast Asians have come here for farming opportunities, the warm climate and the presence of other relatives.
“Hmong like to be close to each other,” Phoua Yang explained. “Almost all of them only know how to farm or be soldiers.” Among the Hmong nestled along a lobby sofa, one is a soldier turned farmer, one runs a community garden in Visalia, and three raise food in the Fresno area to sell at farmers markets, roadsides, and to packing houses and brokers.
Yee Vue has continued his family’s farming tradition since he immigrated here in 1991. With the help of his wife and five children, Vue raises eggplant, spinach, bitter melon, bok choy and sin qua (loofah gourd) for sale at farmers markets as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area. They recently purchased 30 acres and rent out a couple of homes to subsidize their income.
As one of the more successful farmers, Vue realizes he must go beyond the Hmong community to increase his customer base. Carle Brinkman, market manager for the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association, smiles at Vue in the lobby and snaps his picture. “See you at the market!”
www.californiafarmconference.com
Comments
2 Responses to “Hmong Growers Meet At Farm Conference”
Got something to say?
God! Is this, truly, the millennium?
I sure hope so.
Along with Bravos!!! for Michael and Phoua Yang and the agriculturalist, like the original Yellow Emperor, Yee Vue.
This nation has yet a chance to turn the steel of armaments into the plowshares of farming.
I just hope the pesticides in the Visalia area have subsided enough so as not to poison “immigrant” farmers.
Yes, Mr. Vue, better a farmer than a soldier.
Frank Eng
Great things for farmers and for the rest of us consumers. Eat more verggy. Fresh, local and inexpensive are always treats from (Hmong) farmers. Unfortunately, I don’t live near a farmers market to appreciate it more. Wisconsin has lots of these markets during the summer. Visit them.