More organic tomatoes are being grown in Amado greenhouses by Wholesum Family Farms. The company has added 25 new year-round jobs as it expands the existing 18-acre facility with six more acres.
Amado – historically a rural, ranching area – is now changing to greenhouse farming. “Amado suits us very well for the type of agriculture we do – indoors in greenhouses. During the winter it has great sunlight and during the summer, we have the higher elevation and it cools off substantially at night. That gives us the ability to grow year-round, and that’s very attractive to us,” said Ricardo Crisantes, chief commercial officer.
He noted that agriculture in a protected environment is specialized “and it’s not for everybody.” That could be why other Nogales companies aren’t growing produce there. However, the area is home to two medical marijuana greenhouse complexes.
Wholesum has a 20,000-square-foot warehouse and shipping facility in Nogales, south of Gold Hill Road and east of Grand Avenue, while the sales office staff and other support staff are in Amado, across the road from the huge greenhouse.
Crisantes said the company employs 168 workers year-round in the Santa Cruz County operation and 680 workers at its Mexican farms in Imuris, Sonora and Culiacan, Sinaloa.
Wholesum grows and sells organic tomatoes on the vine and beefsteak tomatoes, he said. Rather than having a high season, based on harvest dates, as most Nogales produce distributors do, Wholesum plants and harvests on a rotating schedule, Crisantes said. “One of the advantages of our greenhouse production and infrastructure is the ability to create optimal organic growing conditions year-round. We also plant our crops on rotation at each greenhouse so that all growing activities are taking place simultaneously and throughout the year.”
“This gives us the ability to have a steady and efficient workforce with opportunities for growth,” he said.
Read the full article at Nogales International (Kathleen Vandervoet)