Gross's
Greatness
Photography by Dave Minnick
business
I
Where Family Fun meets the Farm
By R.J. Minnick
n business, companies look at diversifica- diate family is involved in day-to-day operations, but the
tion as a means to remain profitable. Bring- extended family pitches in with special projects.
ing in revenue takes resourcefulness and creativity.
What does that mean to a small business geared
toward bringing food to America's table? It can mean
diversification of crops, seasonal plantings that allow for
year-round product, or even creating additional sources of
income to supplement the harvest.
Gross Farms, owned and operated by John and Tina
Gross, is approximately 1000 acres of non-adjacent fields
four miles south of Sanford, NC. Each year, they put in
200 acres of tobacco and 700 acres of wheat and rye, with
soybeans planted in the wheat fields after its harvest. Their
major commercial buyers include Cargill, Murphy-Brown
and Butterball. In addition, they grow strawberries, sweet
corn, pumpkins, asparagus and onions for local consumption. A former tobacco barn at the front of the farm serves
as their produce stand, welcoming the public from April to
November.
The family has maintained the farm through five generations. It was begun by John Gross's great-grandfather
over 100 years ago and came under his own direction in
1983, when he was a mere 11th grade high school student.
With his father being ill, the young man stepped in and
started by introducing tobacco. Currently, only his imme-
Farming is at the mercy of the season. It can be tough.
Tough enough to translate into more cost than income.
Crops respond to weather and the wrong weather at the
wrong time can mess with a plant's growth cycle, ruining
John Gross (center) and sons Colton (left) and
Cody (right) —a family affair.
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