Te crew digs potatoes on the Coombs family farm back in the 1950s.
green potatoes, vines and dirt clods to ship a higher quality crop,” she says. “I swallowed my fair share of dirt and then some. We were a small-time farm compared to what John grew up with. It was eye opening for me to see their equipment and operations.”
Te fall after graduation, Donna began working in an attorney’s office. On Christmas morning of 1979 John came to Donna’s house with a huge box for her. “Inside were lots of other boxes and in the very smallest box was my engagement ring. We hadn’t discussed marriage, but there was no hesitation on my part. I’d been pretty sure he was the one for me; that it was a good thing. We married on October 25, 1980. After 37 years of marriage we feel we have been very blessed.”
First Transition John says, “Donna’s background made it easier for us, and especially for me, once we were married. She understood what a farm family was all about and was always willing to do whatever was needed. Whatever the challenges, she’s been amazing.”
Typically, for them, John and Donna learned to work on developing their family life to revolve around the seasonal demands of farming. Tey set up their home and started their family. Teir three boys—John Jr., George and Kevin—were a welcome addition to the ninth generation, joining their older cousins, Jim’s two girls.
As John and Donna were growing their family, the Coombs family farming operation was growing,
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too. Donna helped in the fields as needed while raising her sons. John’s Mom managed the office and slowly brought Donna in, first teaching her how to do payroll, but that transition was slow. In 1982, John’s Dad began his ten year battle with lymphoma cancer. As the brothers gradually took on
more of the farm management, and production grew, they naturally focused on differing responsibilities. John concentrated on planting and spraying, Jim on harvesting and irrigation. John says, “My brother also was always fabricating something to improve our efficiency, especially in handling the potato crop.”
In the winter of 1990, Donna was pregnant with Kevin. “John’s Dad wanted me to come into the office full-time, but I asked to delay that to give Kevin two years of my full attention, like I did with our first two. After John’s Dad died in 1992, his Mom stayed involved in the office to keep busy. I’d been helping her in the office doing payroll and the banking until 2000 when her health started to deteriorate. I then stepped in full time. Tis allowed John’s mom to enjoy her senior years until her passing in 2006.”
to put under them to make money. We found sod.”
A friend was trucking sod for a sod broker and told John the broker was looking for another grower. John says, “Dave Johnson’s D. Johnson Farms, Inc. is in Deerfield, NJ. We’re in Elmer, NJ, but our farms are just three miles apart. Jim and I spoke with the Johnson family before we went into sod to make sure they were aware of it and okay with it. We were already good competitors in the potato industry and wanted to remain good neighbors. Dave’s Dad said, ‘I hope you like it,’ and told us we’d be buying a lot of equipment. Dave was very helpful and encouraged us to get involved in TPI.”
Tey planted 60 acres of bluegrass in 1999, slanting their production to golf courses because the Johnsons weren’t doing much in that market.
Kevin Coombs mows the low-mow bluegrass.
Te Coombs farm was now a two- family operation and a growing one. Tey purchased their first center pivot irrigation system in 1994.
Starting Sod John Sr. says, “Grain prices had dropped in the late 90s and we’d been using grains as the rotational crop with potatoes. We had this high-priced infrastructure—11 center pivots—and needed to find something
Sod was a completely different crop in farming and in the office. “Te potato business was pretty much handed to us and was running like a well-oiled machine,” John Sr. says. “Te sod business had to be started. Turfgrass is a specialty crop with unique production challenges. Marketing, sales, tracking and invoicing were all things Jim and I hadn’t done before and Donna hadn’t done either. With all the potatoes, other vegetables, and grains we’d sold, we were never involved in any of that. Tose crops had been grown on contract. You agree to sell to a processing company and they pay you.”
TPI Turf News November/December 2017
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