From Punjab to Corvallis, Riverland Family Farms Carries On A Legacy
“Our culture, language, music, food is all influenced by farming,” says Inder Singh of the fertile Punjab region in India that he, his business partner and brother-in-law Tal Singh, and their families hail from. “We’re a multi-generational family of farmers. My father farmed, as did my grandfather and many before him.”
Despite both Tal and Inder spending their early years on farms their families owned in India, neither initially chose to take up this profession.
Inder met Tal at the age of 12 when Tal (who is ten years Inder’s senior) married one of Inder’s sisters. The families were living in the Bay Area at the time but eventually set their sights on Texas in pursuit of a higher quality of living. Joined by Inder’s other sister, Ruby and, her husband, Tyler, the Singh family relocated outside of Dallas.
Inder enrolled at the University of Arlington, while Tal took a job as a Data Engineer. Inder eventually graduated, married and joined Tal at the same firm. When not working, they tended backyard gardens that kept their families fed with melons, okra, tomatoes and peppers.
In time, the two began to dread office work. They daydreamed about life outside of their routines in Texas and of agricultural settings that reminded them of their childhoods in India. Inder’s hobby of perusing real estate online started to turn up some intriguing prospects.
Inder Singh
“I showed a listing for Denison Farms to my family in 2018 and they told me it was too much,” Inder laughed. “Too big, too much money, too much of a risk.”
Nevertheless, the Singh family had begun to make plans to relocate once again and had the Pacific Northwest in mind.
The following year, Ruby and Tyler bought a home in Corvallis which renewed Inder’s curiosity about the 43 acres of land he had previously seen online.
From Texas, Inder reached out to Tom Denison and his wife, Elizabeth Kerle, and learned that half the farm had been sold. Despite the surprise, Inder expressed his interest in seeing the remaining available property and learning about Denison’s business. Tom responded, and the two parties began communicating.
The Singhs had a lot of variables to weigh. Walking away from jobs that provided consistent pay and benefits, as well as leaving their community in Texas and putting all their savings into an entirely new life path, was daunting.
Tal Singh
But, Tal shares, “Once we started communicating with Tom and Elizabeth, they were so open and gave us so much information it helped make the decision easier.”
After nearly two months of corresponding, and with the support of their families, Inder and Tal decided to take the leap. They packed everything that they could fit into one car, and on January 14th, 2020, drove to Corvallis. Papers were signed on the 22nd, and on the 23rd, the two began working. Their families followed soon after.
In contrast to the sale of the first half of Denison Farms to Commonplace Farm, which was land without infrastructure or a business model attached, the transition of the remaining property to Riverland Family Farms was a much bigger undertaking. With the property came numerous structures, an existing CSA program, a presence at multiple farmers markets, wholesale accounts and a large contingent of long-term workers. The paperwork and accounting to support it all required significant time and a steep learning curve.
"As part of the sale, Elizabeth and I agreed to train Inder and Tal for a year of transition," says Tom.
Elizabeth ran the Denison Farms office and CSA, so she showed them the office systems, how to run the CSA, and all the required state, federal, and organic records, forms and reports. Tom introduced them to the farm's experienced staff and worked with them on crop production, marketing and greenhouse management. There were many introductions to other farmers and suppliers of seeds, organic inputs, packing materials, machinery, tools, and more.
"It was fun working with them," Tom says. "They and their families are smart,hard-working, ask great questions and pay attention to the answers. They also brought great skills and experience from their former jobs, and have been able to improve on some of our old systems,” Tom shares, adding, “It has been very satisfying to see the farm continue to supply beautiful, healthy produce to the community."
An aspect of Tom’s business model and growing practices that Inder and Tal were immediately attracted to is that it’s organic certified. As they worked alongside Tom, they recalled the experience they had as children helping their families grow food, and realized in hindsight they came from a background of “accidentally organic” farming in India.
The year of shadowing paid off, and while Inder and Tal are confidently running the business in its second year, the time they spent with Tom and Elizabeth forged a strong bond.
“We are very thankful for their support; it would have been impossible to take on and run this operation without their help,” Tal and Inder share.
Tom and Elizabeth now live just a short drive away and the families are regularly in touch with each other.
Of the time invested in the transition, Tom recalls his own experience of starting a farm in the 70s. One farmer helped him so much that Tom wondered how he could ever return the favor? “My mentor told me: you don’t return the favor to me, you help the next generation once you are experienced.”
Along with the anticipated challenges of relocating and taking on a new business, the Singhs faced unforeseen hurdles the pandemic and climate crisis posed. Last year’s wildfires and this year’s heatwaves starting in March and April and worsening in June made a big impact.
“The heat hit us pretty hard. Our business is built around season extension, and it impacted our plan to get products to market early,” Tal shares.
Despite inheriting a robust model for planning crops from Tom, Inder and Tal are considering how that may need to change in the coming years. While they can’t base future plans off the experience of one season, they’re taking note and proceeding cautiously with planning, taking climate concerns into account.
“It’s not always going to be rosy,” Tal laughs. “Each year, farming is going to challenge you.”
The two noted how integral their newfound community of local growers have been, and will continue to be, to their success. From sharing knowledge to resources, there’s certainly healthy competition, but also an understanding that everyone’s success benefits the collective.
“There were concerns coming into this transition that other growers and the local community would see us as outsiders and not be receptive to us, but we were totally wrong in that regard,” Inder beams. “They have all been very supportive of us.”
This is true of growers in the region, as well as their direct neighbor Commonplace Farm. Separated by only a set of railroad tracks, the two businesses work together to solve some of the challenges created as a result of splitting up what was previously one large farm. Commonplace rents land to Riverland so they can grow some winter crops outside of hoop houses. Riverland’s property best accommodates large trucks for pickups, so they have invited Commonplace to bring their product to their farm to load onto OGC trucks.
Of the farm’s future, Inder and Tal share, “Our goal for Riverland Family Farms is to grow high-quality organic produce using sustainable practices. We will continue to strive to provide learning and growth opportunities to current and future farmers as Tom and Elizabeth have provided to us.”
Ask your Account Representative about delicious organic vegetables and berries from Riverland Family Farms, and follow @riverlandfamilyfarms on Instagram to keep up with this family of growers!
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