Steve Smith

Turlock Fruit Company
Turlock, California

Words to live by

“We are a medium sized family business. What keeps us going is the idea that if we work hard and are creative and continue to be good stewards of the land then there will be a future for us.”

Steve Smith is pictured with father Don Smith and son Alec Smith.

Cantaloupe Smith

Turlock Fruit Company

The Turlock Fruit Company has been synonymous with the cantaloupe industry for more than three-quarters of a century. In fact, the founder of the firm, Steve’s grandfather James H. Smith, was commonly called by his nickname, Cantaloupe Smith. He founded the firm in 1923 and it has been growing cantaloupes, honeydews and mixed melons ever since. In recent years, the firm has expanded its growing operations from its San Joaquin Valley roots to include production in the Imperial Valley and Mexico.

Like Father, Like Son

Don Smith, Steve’s father and was well-known for his political activism. Son Steve inherited that passion for politics as he minored in political science at the University of Pacific before getting a masters degree in agribusiness from Santa Clara University. “Studying political science in college has been very relevant to what I do,” said Steve.

Generations at Work

Steve’s son Alec, who graduated from Yale, has followed the previous three generations into the family business, working alongside his father and 78-year-old Don who still is as involved as ever. “We all work together on everything,” Steve said, “but if there is a delineation of duties, Dad is more involved in marketing, my son is involved in harvesting and packing and I am more involved on the growing end.”

Water in 2009

“It is going to be very difficult. We have been told that if we have normal rainfall this year we will receive zero allocation of federal water, and if we have normal rainfall next year we are going to receive zero allocation. We have some wells but not enough. We are not sure what we are going to do. The politics of the Endangered Species Act is keeping us from growing our crops.”

Personal

Steve and his wife of 30 years, Kathy, reside in Turlock where they raised daughter Hilary, who is 28 and son Steve, who is 24. As far as hobbies go, “I like to snow ski and occasionally attempt to play golf, which is the right way to put it.”