James “Jimmy” Abma Jr., a Wyckoff vegetable grower, has been chosen Outstanding Young Farmer by the New Jersey state board of agriculture. Abma and his wife, Anna, are one of 10 finalists for the National Outstanding Young Farmer Award.

“The Abmas have long been known for their hard work and positive influence on agriculture in New Jersey,” says Doug Fisher, agriculture secretary. “In following in his father’s footsteps, Jimmy has continued to enhance the agricultural experience at Abma’s Farm and has it well-positioned to succeed long into the future. I congratulate Jimmy as he is well-deserving of this honor.”

Jimmy has been involved in agriculture since he started helping on the farm at age 8. By age 18, he was overseeing the farm’s vegetable production after having spent several summers working in the fields.

Jimmy understands that his family paved the path for his agricultural career, including his father, James, who won the New Jersey Outstanding Young Farmer Award in 1991.

“When I was younger, I was looking at my dad’s desk and saw his plaque for winning the Outstanding Young Farmer Award and I always thought it would be neat if I could have a chance to win it someday,” Jimmy says. “I’ve always had a passion for farming. Working with produce was my starting point and it always took precedence. My goal is to bring more vegetable variety into our market and give our customers a high quality, fresh product from the fields to the market.”

Abma’s Farm is 150 acres. They sell produce at their on-site farm market and wholesale through a local supermarket chain. The primary crops grown include sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers. The farm also includes a greenhouse that is open from mid-March up until Christmas that features homegrown annuals, perennials, herbs, soil and pottery.

The farm has educational tours throughout the school year and camps for school-aged children during the summer, winter and spring breaks. Their newly renovated petting zoo allows the community to interact with and learn about livestock, including goats, sheep, alpaca, rabbits, ponies, donkeys and more.

“We work hard to be informative about where food comes from, not only in our own market but also through our wholesale accounts by having our farm’s name and information available to the consumer,” Jimmy says. “The consumer has the ability to contact us and learn about where their food comes from and what our growing practices are. During the growing season, we offer educational walking farm tours to show and explain vegetable production.”

Water and soil conservation have played an important role on the farm.

“I think every farmer tries to be a responsible steward of the natural resources on their farm,” he says. “We are certainly no different. We rely heavily on rotation of crops and the use of cover crops both for soil health and to reduce soil erosion in the fields. We also use drip irrigation so that fractions of water are put right where it’s needed, just below the soil surface.”

Anna does the payroll, bills, account balancing, decorates the farm for the seasons, leads the farm’s CSA program and oversees the petting zoo. Anna and Jimmy also have three young children between the ages of 1 and 4.

“My wife wears many hats around the farm and she plays an essential role in our success,” he says. “She is willing to get her hands dirty any time of the day to help, and she is an amazing mother to our three children.”

The Abmas are also active in their communities.

Jimmy has been on the Bergen County board of agriculture for the past five years, a member of the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department for 12 years, and he has provided live nativity and on-farm hayrides to two local churches for the past several years.

Anna has been on the Wyckoff Volunteer Ambulance Corps for 10 years.

The Outstanding Young Farmer program is the oldest farmer recognition program in the U.S. with the first group of national winners selected in 1955. 

The National Outstanding Young Farmer Award will be presented in February at the National Outstanding Young Farmers Awards Congress in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Source: New Jersey Department of Agriculture