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CapitalPress.com
March 13, 2015
Smaller is better for farmers’ market operation
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
ROSEBURG, Ore. — Jim
Leet gardened as a kid, as
a soldier and for the last 10
years as a retiree.
Leet and his wife, Joni, es-
tablished Linnea Marie Farms
— the middle names of their
two daughters — in 2005 on
their property in the Melrose
area west of Roseburg. Jim
Leet said he’s working about
as much on his 1 acre as he
did during his professional
career when he worked for
large nonprofit organizations
in Minnesota and Alaska.
“Obviously, I like grow-
ing things,” the 67-year-old
said. “It’s definitely a labor of
love.”
In the ground and in two
large hoop houses, Leet grows
vegetables year round. He and
Joni Leet have a booth at the
weekly Umpqua Valley Farm-
ers’ Market, where they sell
their peppers, tomatoes, salad
greens, asparagus, garlic, car-
rots, onions, potatoes, corn,
peas, beets, kohlrabi, boysen-
berries, strawberries, raspber-
ries, squash and tomatillos.
They also sell their produce
at Umpqua Local Goods, a
small store in Roseburg that is
a retail outlet for small home
businesses.
In addition to the produce,
the Leets have had chickens
for three years and sell the
eggs at the farmers’ market.
“I’ve tried to diversify
enough so if something tanks,
I have enough balance to equal
things out,” said Jim Leet, who
was an Umpqua Valley market
board member for six years
and was the president for the
middle four years.
The Leets don’t have a cer-
tified organic farm because
that process is too expensive
for their small size of opera-
tion, but they grow their pro-
duce by organic methods.
“People want local food,”
Jim Leet said. “They’re buy-
ing more and more local.
They want the quality and
freshness. The idea of getting
to know your farmer is in-
creasingly popular.”
Leet specializes in grow-
ing peppers, and has earned
the nickname of “The Pepper
Man.” On market days, he
usually wears shirts and hats
with peppers printed on them.
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Jim Leet picks a handful of
salad greens for the evening
meal after a day of working
on Linnea Marie Farms near
Roseburg, Ore.
Betaseed’s planned expansion includes
hiring research, breeding team members
SEEDS from Page 3
“The primary objectives
for the new expansion were
driven by a desire to respond
to market and customer de-
mands even quicker than we
had been,” said Bryan Meier,
director of operations at the
Tangent location. “Our new
technology and automated
systems support these objec-
tives by allowing us to reach
the growing regions earlier,
making sure seed is in place
when growers are ready to
start planting.”
Growers’ needs drive Beta-
seed’s research efforts. Beta-
seed markets and sells its seed
through sales agents scattered
across North America in 11
sugarbeet growing regions.
“These agents collaborate
with customers to identify
field conditions, soil type and
disease pressure, and recom-
mend the varieties best suited
S15-7/#5
S15-7/#7
to perform under the grower’s
specific conditions. Beta-
seed’s extensive seed portfo-
lio allows Betaseed to support
growers with the best genetics
for each acre, maximizing ev-
ery dollar that growers invest
in their operations,” said Lisa
Butzer, corporate marketing
manager.
Current research efforts fo-
cus on increasing disease toler-
ance and yield.
“Our most recent success-
es include nematode tolerance
and MultiSource rhizomania
tolerance,” said Butzer.
Future breeding efforts
may include developing heat,
salt and drought tolerant sugar-
beets, as well as additional dis-
ease and pest tolerances, But-
zer said.
Betaseed’s planned ex-
pansion includes hiring new
research and breeding team
members over the next few
years.
“For the future, Betaseed
will continue to focus on bring-
ing value to sugarbeet growers
through innovative solutions
through traits, seed treatments
and increased yield,” Butzer
said.