Jose Villa grew up farming with his dad in Jalisco, Mexico. They grew corn, wheat, beans, sorghum, and cabbage. His dad is currently still a farmer/rancher in Mexico. Jose is continuing to farm now that he’s in Minnesota in order to keep his family’s traditions alive. He enjoys the work and says that he has a hard time staying away from the land.
One of the biggest challenges Jose faces is language barrier, especially when it comes to marketing and selling. Jose doesn’t know how to sell his products here, it’s much more complicated. He is also not familiar with the farmer production methods that are employed here.
This is Jose’s second year farming with Minnesota Food Association. He is very happy that he has gotten the chance to farm and learn how it is done in Minnesota. He has gained a lot of knowledge about the climate, pests, soils, and diseases. Jose is farming 3 acres this year and is growing slicer tomatoes, grape tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers, melons, and squash. He is selling his product through Big River Foods as well as to relatives and ethnic restaurants.
One day Jose hopes to have his own land so that he can continue to farm.
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