Paul Allen, 42, farms 6,500 acres of sweet corn, green beans and sugarcane in the Everglades Agricultural Area of South Florida. Currently co-owner of R.C. Hatton, Inc. and president of the Florida Sweet Corn Exchange, Allen has been working in the farming industry for over two decades.

 

R.C. Hatton Farms has been growing sweet corn for 50 years. I co-own the operation with Roger Hatton, the son of founder Robert C. Hatton, who got his start on a little farm in Pahokee, Florida on Lake Okeechobee. I started at R.C. Hatton in 1985, and worked for the farm for 17 years before buying into the company.

 

Industry wide, we’re more conscious now about food safety than we were 10 years ago. A big part of our management team focuses on food safety, not just in the harvesting, but also in the packing and shipping process. We make sure we’ve got trained harvesters who are educated about pesticides, and we try to keep our harvest, packing and shipping operations extremely sanitary. Our product is traceable from start to finish.

 

Also, a lot more of our farm practices are now managed electronically. We have seven laptops in the field. And we try to keep pesticide use to a minimum.

 

You’re going to see a lot of growth in value-added products, which are products that are either cleaned and ready-to-eat, or prepared to save time when cooking. We were the first farm to market corn in microwavable bags, and this is a trend that will continue to grow in the industry. You’ll also see an increased use of fresh products, especially in food service.

 

There are many, but I would say our greatest challenge currently is the accumulation of land availability. We expanded to Georgia three years ago, but are still looking to expand into some areas further north so that we can become year round suppliers for both sweet corn and green beans. Currently, we are not supplying produce during the hottest summer months.

 

Farming in South Florida also presents other challenges. We have hurricanes, tropical storms, and alligators. For hurricanes, we bring the water table down and pray. We just stay clear of the alligators.

 

I’m the president of the Florida Sweet Corn Exchange, and through the Exchange, we send merchandisers to the store to talk to the retailers about what they’re going to want and need each season from us as an industry. We do see variations in the market from time to time, but they happen gradually, over a several year period, and as retail operations change personnel.

 

We do a lot toward conserving the land. We leave trees where they are when possible, and we plant grass on the ditch banks to prevent erosion when hurricanes or floods come through. We land level all of our fields for the same reason.

 

 

We sell all of our fresh products to food service locally, and all of our value-added products locally too. Our products are also available nationally. Value-added products are available under the Hugh Branch, Inc. label.

 

 

Once a year, the Exchange hosts the Sweet Corn Fiesta at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach. This event encourages people to come in, learn about corn farming, and enjoy delicious samples of our products. Consumers have a chance to get up close and personal with the farmers at this event, eat sweet corn and enjoy the fairground rides.

 

Additionally, I go to supermarkets and talk to consumers. They are always really happy to talk to someone who grows corn, and they have a lot of questions, especially about pesticide use and conservation.

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