AGRICULTURE: Leased base land to farmers earns some money for U.S.
 
Pendleton family has been tilling the soil next to I-5 for almost 70 years


By JEFF ROWE - jrowe@nctimes.com | Posted: February 14, 2010 12:00 am | No Comments Posted | Print

[img_r]http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nctimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/b/44/01b/b4401b51-e415-5315-92e0-47447f64ce70.preview-300.jpg?_dc=1266033974[/img_r]By spring, as they have every year for decades, tens of thousands of tomato plants will be standing guard along the western flank of Camp Pendleton.

The crop is grown on 275 acres of leased land on the base, a practice that allows the military to earn some money for land it doesn't anticipate needing in the near future.

Farmland lease payments at Pendleton earn about $587,000 annually for the federal government; nationally, the armed forces earned about $7 million in farm leases in fiscal year 2009, a Department of Defense spokeswoman said. The money goes to pay for administrative costs and to support conservation efforts on the bases.

Moreover, the transit of civilian workers on and off base apparently never has created a security problem, said Lt. Commander Wendy Snyder, a Department of Defense spokeswoman in Washington.

And Pendleton can claim the steadiest of tenants.

The Singh family has farmed the land since 1941, when Harry Singh Sr. arrived after working his way across the United States from Florida, after immigrating from India.

He was allowed to build a house on Camp Pendleton, where he raised his family and grew vegetables, especially tomatoes. His son, Harry Jr., was raised in the house and runs the operation now, and several third-generation Singhs take active roles in the company, which also farms about 550 acres in Oceanside.

Of the Pendleton land, David Singh, one of Harry Jr.'s sons, said, "It's beautiful land; flat, excellent quality."

Over the years, the family has raised, among other crops, celery, cucumbers, strawberries, bell peppers and tomatoes, although vine-ripened tomatoes have become the dominant crop on base. Most of the family's base farming operations now sprout from the west side of Interstate 5, although until 2008 the family also tilled 340 acres on the freeway's east side. That land is being developed into new military housing.

For decades, farmers willing to rent land kept as buffers or for future military use were one of the few civilian incursions into military bases, which often feel like self-contained company towns.

Now, though, the farmers are getting more civilian company on base. Telephone companies are leasing cell-phone tower space, car companies are storing vehicles and the armed forces are partnering with civilian companies to build and manage base housing on some bases.

However, no U.S. military service is as business-diversified as China's army, which at one point owned about 1,500 hotels, as well as other businesses. "It had an empire," said June Teufel Dreyer, a political science professor at the University of Miami. Although the army was ordered to sell off the hotels and other businesses, it apparently has retained some, Dreyer said.

Marines at Pendleton and other bases are gratified that the farms on base serve a different purpose than, for example, the farms on some of the old Soviet Union's military installations. At some of those bases during the Cold War, soldiers used to raise fruits and vegetables because the food served on base was so meager and miserable.

At Pendleton, the Singh family tomatoes earn high praise.

"It's an impeccable farm operation ---- the elite," said Tom Larson, a principal at Dudek Environmental and Engineering in Irvine. The company is creating plans to farm parts of the old El Toro air base, which is being transformed into a multi-use urban park where a variety of fruits and vegetables will be raised.

At Pendleton, the Singh family is focused on one crop. Why the emphasis on the red fruits?

"My grandfather liked tomatoes," said David Singh.

Call staff writer Jeff Rowe at 760-740-5417.