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Making the dream green
Raul Sanchez sneaked across the border at 16; long a citizen, he's now
enriching the environment
By Rick Steigmeyer
Raul Sanchez says he's living the American dream. Only in America, he
said, could he go from illegal farmworker to U.S. citizen and successful
orchardist as quickly as he has. A couple of U.S. Department of
Agriculture agencies have helped him make his dreams come true.
Sanchez, 50, of Wenatchee, qualified for a Farmers Home
Administration-guaranteed bank loan when he purchased a 15-acre apple
orchard in 1997. When apple prices tumbled the following year and he
couldn't make the payments, FmHA advisers helped him come up with a plan
to sell 5 acres to reduce his payments on the other 10.
"I had leased an orchard and made some money. I wanted to buy my own
orchard. But I bought it the wrong year," said Sanchez, who earned his
U.S. citizenship in 1990. He entered the country illegally at age 16 in
1975 and became a legal immigrant in 1982.
More recently, Sanchez's orcharding ambitions have been helped along by
the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Sanchez applied for
cost-share help last year through the NRCS's Environmental Quality
Incentive Program. The program helps growers make improvements on their
farms that also improve the environment. Sanchez will get $19,500 spread
over three years to help pay to move to more environmentally safe
pest-control programs. He also used some of the money to update his
irrigation system, analyze his soil for more efficient use of
fertilizers and soil amendments, and install birdhouses to attract birds
that prey on orchard pests.
Sanchez submitted a plan last year that put him high on the list to
receive help, said Amy Hendershot, NRCS soil conservationist.
"Raul addressed so many things, it was hard to turn him down," she said,
about his plans to make his orchard more environmentally friendly. NRCS
is currently working with about 50 tree fruit growers in the area, she
said.
"The more resources you address, the more likely you'll be awarded,"
added Ernie Holt, NRCS area agronomist. Sanchez came up with a plan to
improve his operation and improve air, water, soil and wildlife in the
process. In the past year, he has already replaced use of broad-spectrum
pesticides with mating disruption and products less harmful to
beneficial insects. He's also installed a micro-sprinkler irrigation
system and soil moisture monitors to use water more efficiently.
Birdhouses have been placed in the orchards to attract kestrels and owls
that chase nuisance birds away while preying on rodents.
Hendershot and Holt visited Sanchez's orchard north of Rocky Reach Dam
to look at some of the changes made using the NRCS funds. Holt said the
health of the trees and the orchard's prolific production show Sanchez
is a savvy grower.
Sanchez said he began replacing half of his 10 acres of Golden Delicious
with cherries in 2002. About 3.5 acres are now bearing fruit. He expects
to pick close to 35 tons of Rainier, Bing and Sweetheart cherries this
year. The young trees were loaded with very large fruit. Some of the
Rainiers were nearly pingpong ball size. Cherry harvest will begin at
the ranch this week and continue to about July 15, he said.
"This is the year to have big cherries," he said. A record volume crop
is already glutting some warehouses to the point that they're turning
down small-sized fruit, he said. But he said there's always a good
market for large cherries.
Sanchez said his 3.5 acres of cherries grossed about $70,000 in each of
the last two years. The 2008 crop was smaller — about 20 tons, compared
to 30 tons in 2007 — but higher demand and prices made up the
difference.
"The last couple of years have been very good for cherries and apples,"
he said.
It's no small accomplishment to make a living off just 10 acres of
orchard, Holt said. Fruit returns can be up and down. Weather is never
predictable.
There have been some very lean years, Sanchez admitted. His wife, Maria,
operates a day-care center that helps pay the bills. Maria and the
couple's three children help out with the orchard work.
"We don't live a high-class life. We have a small house, but we're
happy," he said.
He's come a long way. Originally from Michoachán, Mexico, Sanchez
recalled paying a man — a coyote — to drive him across the border into
Arizona in 1975 when he was 16 years old. He laid still beneath a
blanket on the floor of the car. It was hot driving through the desert.
The man offered him a sip of his beer: a Coors. It was his first taste
of America, he said.
He went to work picking pears in California, but was too slow and
unskilled to make much money. The crew boss put him to work as a cook's
assistant for $100 a week after he picked just two bins of pears a day.
He said he eventually learned to handle an orchard ladder and pick
faster. He gained legal status and followed the harvests to Washington,
where he got a job picking apples for Charles Lewis in East Wenatchee.
He worked for Lewis for more than 20 years. He became the orchard
manager and credits Lewis for teaching him how to grow quality fruit.
For several years after buying his own orchard, he continued to work for
Lewis during the day and then worked on his own land. He saved on costs
by doing nearly all his own work.
"I don't know how we made it some years," he said. "But any work that
you do, if you do it good, you'll make out. I do my best. I feel very
good because I have a place where I love to come to work each day. I
feel lucky to have the opportunity to own something in this country. I
love this country. This is a dream come true."
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