Lancaster Farming is a weekly agricultural newspaper serving the Northeast. It recently featured a story about Becker Farms.
The article begins as follows...
Becker Farms and Vizcarra Vineyards uses diverse revenue streams to strengthen its bottom line. For the past 100 years, the family farm has focused on raising fruits and vegetables; however, the fifth generation has brought value-added agriculture and agritourism to the 340-acre operation.
“We listened to what our customers wanted and adapted to what they wanted,” said Melinda Vizcarra, whose great-grandfather and grandmother, Julius and Augusta Becker, founded the farm in 1894.
Eventually, the farm was handed down to Vizcarra’s parents, Joyce (Becker) and Donald Perry.
“They ran it part time and kept it going,” Vizcarra said.
Vizcarra met her husband, Oscar, while attending SUNY Delhi Ag and Tech.
“He was going for landscape architecture and I was there for agriculture,” Vizcarra said. “I never thought of coming back to my own farm because I didn’t think I would do it on my own. But we met and he was doing landscaping because he didn’t have a farm or land but enjoyed plants.”
She told him he shouldn’t waste his landscaping talents on others’ land; he told her she shouldn’t leave her family’s farm. The couple decided that farming together was a good idea. They went on to Cornell University to study ecology and small fruit growing.
“We were inspired we could make a living on a small farm selling directly to the public,” Vizcarra said.
“We listened to what our customers wanted and adapted to what they wanted,” said Melinda Vizcarra, whose great-grandfather and grandmother, Julius and Augusta Becker, founded the farm in 1894.
Eventually, the farm was handed down to Vizcarra’s parents, Joyce (Becker) and Donald Perry.
“They ran it part time and kept it going,” Vizcarra said.
Vizcarra met her husband, Oscar, while attending SUNY Delhi Ag and Tech.
“He was going for landscape architecture and I was there for agriculture,” Vizcarra said. “I never thought of coming back to my own farm because I didn’t think I would do it on my own. But we met and he was doing landscaping because he didn’t have a farm or land but enjoyed plants.”
She told him he shouldn’t waste his landscaping talents on others’ land; he told her she shouldn’t leave her family’s farm. The couple decided that farming together was a good idea. They went on to Cornell University to study ecology and small fruit growing.
“We were inspired we could make a living on a small farm selling directly to the public,” Vizcarra said.
The rest of the article talks about Becker Farms' evolution over the years. Read it here:
http://lancasterfarming.com/news/northeedition/Family-Business-Keeps-on-Growing
