A national grower, packer and shipper of vegetable commodities is expanding its farming operation in the Southeast. J&J Family of Farms announced the construction of a new 1,000-acre farm in Vero Beach, Florida.
“The Vero Beach expansion really accomplishes a couple of things. It gives us a 1,000 acres of farmland, of which about 750 will be controlled by us for sustainable Ag practices to grow those key commodities,” said Jim Gallagher, President of J&J. “The second thing it gives us is a brand new cooler, packing facility. It’s going to make us more valuable to southeast and east coast customers because we can not only ship our products but also offer consolidation services.
“It’s exciting to help our expansion as we’re growing in both chain and food service.”
This acquisition supports the growth of an agricultural company already utilizing more than 10,000 acres of farmland. The additional acreage will help produce higher volumes of sweet and hot peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers and eggplant.
Sustainability will also be a key focus at the research and development facility. Significant investments in infrastructure have been made to support precision agricultural practices like drip irrigation, direct to plant fertilization and utilizing different sources of energy, including solar.
“We see within three or four years, sometime in the future, them helping us test more nutritious vegetables, higher yielding vegetables, make more flavorable in our categories. That R&D facility is being established there to help us do that,” Gallagher said. “We will also use that research facility to try new items that the seed companies might have.”
About J&J Family of Farms
Established in 1983, J&J Family of Farms is a leading grower, packer and shipper of field-grown vegetable commodities. J&J specializes in bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, squash and eggplant. Within their family of farms, J&J operates packing and cooling facilities in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Mexico. J&J is a wholly owned subsidiary of Benson Hill, a food tech company. Learn more at www.jjfamilyoffarms.com.