Variety Farms named Blueberry Grower of the Year
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
by Gabe Donio
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
ATLANTIC CITY—The New
Jersey Department of Agriculture
and the Vegetable Growers Asso-
ciation of New Jersey held its
Joint Agricultural Convention
Banquet on February 5 at Harrah’s
Resort Atlantic City. Variety
Farms was presented with the
Blueberry Grower of the Year
Award.
The Gazette interviewed Bran-
don Raso about Variety Farms re-
ceiving the award.
“It feels good. The farm has
grown so much since its incorpo-
ration in the early 1920s. The
younger generation here has really
stepped up and taken the opera-
tion to the next level and keeping
it sustainable,” Raso said.
The Bertino family has owned
operated the family throughout its
many decades of existence.
“John Bertino, my grandfather,
had three girls, but with their help
and the help of other family mem-
bers, the next generation took the
torch and kept the business going.
This is now the fourth and fifth
generations involved with keeping
the farm going,” Raso said.
In recent years, the family
members have adapted to the
challenges facing the agricultural
industry in general and blueberry
farming specifically.
“As with all farming, the blue-
berry industry is changing in so
many ways. Increased regulation
and increased quality standards
call for newer varieties and more
efficient and different means of
packing the fruit. We can’t remain
stagnant. Every year is different
than the next. We’re upgrading
equipment and the facilities and
trying to stay ahead of the game
by remaining a major player in the
industry, not only locally in Jer-
sey, but on a national level,” Raso
said.
Raso said part of the implemen-
tation of technology at Variety
Farms has been seen in move to
replace traditional labor with me-
chanical means of harvesting.
“Mechanical harvesters have
come a long way from what they
were in the past. Not only does it
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Our sorting capabilities have in-
creased with technology. With the
technology they have out now,
thousands of berries can be sorted
in milliseconds, which eliminates
inconsistency and results in a bet-
ter product at the end of the pack-
ing line,” Raso said.
Receiving the honor from the
New Jersey Department of Agri-
culture and the Vegetable Growers
Association of New Jersey has been received as an endorsement
of the work being done and deci-
sions being made by the family
members who own and operate
Variety Farms.
“It’s good to know that over the
past few years the younger gener-
ation has taken it in the right di-
rection. In an ever-changing
market and industry and with reg-
ulations, the route we have been
going seems to be the right way to
go. So it was a good assurance
that we are doing the right thing,”
Raso said.
by Gabe Donio was observed with a half-eaten
loaf of bread, Friel said.
“He was taken into custody,
processed and charged with bur-
glary, theft, possession of drug
paraphernalia, a handmade pipe
used to ingest or inhale narcotics,”
Friel said.
Allen was processed and re-
leased pending a court date in At-
lantic County Superior Court, due
to the burglary, Friel said.
Officer Christopher Henshaw
was the arresting officer, Friel
said.
Burglary reported
on Route 206
G AZETTE S TAFF W RITER
HAMMONTON—Police were
called to an establishment on the
300 block of Route 206 at 7:10
a.m. on January 31 in reference to
a burglary in progress, Hammon-
ton Police Chief Kevin Friel said.
“The owner of the establish-
ment arrived at the restaurant to
find a person consuming a loaf of
bread,” Friel said.
Police encountered David
Allen, 50, of Sicklerville, who
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