Celebrating West Side Agriculture 2020

6 | HONORING WEST SIDE AGRICULTURE THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020
JENSEN
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
he went to law school. As
soon as he could he bought
his first ranch, and still
loves it.”
The family has pushed
more deeply into trees in
the past 25 years, Kirk
said, and is now “probably
two-thirds walnuts and
one-third trees.”
Kirk introduced almonds
into the overall operation
after purchasing
property between Newman
and Gustine in 1996.
“I like almonds as well,”
he noted. “In these years
when things are a little
tougher you get some balance.”
Kirk Jensen has continued the growth and evolution of a family farming legacy which dates back to the early
1900s.
The only row crops now
grown are those planted
between trees for a few
years until they come into
production, he added.
Kirk said most of the
family’s farming operation
falls under J. Wilmar
Jensen, Inc. “I have some
of my own ranches, we all
have some together, I have
some with my brother,” he
explained.
In the 1990s, the Jensens
branched out by building a
huller on the original family
ranch.
“We kind of outgrew
(his grandfather’s huller)
and outsourced our hulling
through the early 90s. Walnuts
take a lot of care for
quality, and it was something
we wanted to be in
control of so we decided
to build our first huller,”
Kirk explained.
Patterson Nut was
founded in 2001 after Kirk
and Mark Jensen acquired
an existing walnut processing
facility.
“In the last 20 years we
have been pretty serious
about hulling,” Kirk said.
Through much of that
time, the Jensens ran their
crop through the home
ranch huller while using
their Patterson huller for
custom work.
As the industry evolved,
however, the need for a
new huller became evident.
Four years ago, the new
huller built by Kirk, Mark
and Wilmar came into production
- offering more
than twice the capacity
of the two previous, nowretired
hullers combined
while consolidating the operation.
Changing trends and increased
demand for hulling
services drove that
transition.
“There used to be probably
10 varieties of walnuts,
with harvest spread
out from September until
the end of October,” Kirk
explained. “Now there are
predominantly three, that
start Oct. 10 and finish at
the end of October. The
fields are bigger and the
harvesting is faster.
“You can’t pile walnuts
on the ground like almonds.
You have to take
them in and run them that
day,” Kirk told Mattos
Newspapers. “For quality,
there is a timeliness to it.
You can’t say that you will
get to it in a week.”
Walnuts coming into
the plant go through a
process which removes
debris such as leaves and
sticks, then a pre-cleaning
before going through the
huller which removes the
remaining green hull and
washes the nuts. The walnuts
then process through
a pneumatic process called
aspiration which removes
lighter nuts (which lack
fully-developed walnut
meats), are electronically
sorted for defects, undergo
inspection by employees
checking for any defects
not taken out in the
process and are dried for
eight to 24 hours to reach a
specific moisture content.
“As soon as they are
dried they are hauled out
to the processor. At Patterson
they are graded,
fumigated and put into
storage,” Kirk said.
Some will be marketed
as in-shell walnuts, while
others are cracked and
shelled.
“The shelling process
is delicate,” Kirk shared.
“Walnuts were not meant
to be cracked by a machine.
The goal is to get
two halves out of each one,
which is a challenge.”
Quality is emphasized at
every step in the process,
whether it involves walnuts
from the Jensen orchards
or those being processed
for other growers.
“I envisioned being a
neighborhood huller and
processor who people can
put a lot of confidence in,”
said Kirk. “As a farmer
you put a lot of trust in
your processor.”
The vertical integration
of the operation includes
a Jensen Ranch trucking
enterprise, he added.
While the operation has
evolved significantly, Kirk
said he does not see substantial
expansion on the
horizon.
“I don’t have a lot of
desire to be bigger,” he
commented. “I can still be
my own boss and have a
hands-on approach.”
FRANK B. MARKS & SON, INC.
Producers of Rock, Sand & Gravel Products
• NEWMAN •
862-2900
Supplying The
Area For Over
100 Years
Farmers…We Speak Your Language!
Genske,
Mulder & Co.
Certified Public Accountants
Saluting West Side Agriculture
2101 L Street, Newman
862-3760
GARTONTRACTOR.COM
Robert O. Burroughs
Janae Holt
Diane Kerckhove
u
Specializing in
Production Agriculture
4803 Sisk Road, Suite 201, Salida CA 95368
(209) 523-3573