A fifth generation of the Buurma family is stepping up to eventually take over Buurma Farms, Inc., located in Gregory, MI, and Willard, OH.

Loren Buurma, company treasurer, told The Produce News that company president, Rick Buurma, plans to retire in five years. Bruce Buurma is first vice president of the operation.

This natural progression in time and family business has put the spotlight onto the next generation, which happens to be twin brothers, Dustin and Derek Buurma.

Dustin and Derek Buurma stand in a mustard greens field on June 12 in Gregory, MI. (Photo courtesy of Dustin Buurma)“Derek and I are 30 years old,” said Dustin Buurma. “We were born and raised in Michigan, growing up just a mile or so down the road from the farm here in Gregory. We are both proud graduates of Michigan State University, having received our respective bachelor degrees in the mid-2000s; myself in general business administration and Derek in hospitality business management. Although our degrees may not necessarily be all that reflective of college graduates who go on to become vegetable farmers, we were certainly not foreign to being around the farm growing up.”

Dustin said he and his twin brother Derek remember playing on the farm as young children with their other two siblings, running back and forth underneath irrigation during the hot, summer afternoons and evenings.

“As Loren eluded to, my brother and I are doing our best to take the lead with the Michigan operation with much of our involvement coming on the growing end,” he said.

The brothers’ father, Greg, and uncle, Ric, have handled much of the farming responsibility in Michigan since the company decided to expand its business and make the permanent move there from Ohio over 30 years ago. Dustin said his father and uncle continue to work patiently with him and Derek as they learn the intricacies of growing quality produce.

“As the saying goes, with age comes responsibility,” Dustin said. “It’s only fair to our previous generations that we gladly take on the many responsibilities and challenges that come with farming successfully. We do this in order to carry on the torch that has been passed down to us from prior generations.”

Dustin and his brother, Derek, began working for the farm in Michigan at the age of 12 and have continued to do so throughout the summers and during middle school, high school, and college, and now full-time as adults.

“Initial responsibilities began with basic tasks such as thinning lettuce and weeding various crops by hand,” Dustin said. The brothers slowly moved on to greater responsibilities such as loading boxes in a field or riding the back of different planters, to operating equipment and now becoming more involved in the actual planning and management that goes into raising the company’s high-quality produce.

“We currently farm roughly 1,000 acres here in Michigan with approximately 70 percent of the tillable ground allocated annually for fresh vegetables and the remaining 30 percent for grain crops,” he added.

Buurma’s current fresh market crops raised in Michigan include radishes, beets, celery, turnips and mustard greens, collards, kale and cilantro.

“Food safety in the agriculture industry has become of great importance in recent years as government regulation has tightened with customers and consumers coming to expect and often require certain food-safety requirements and benchmarks,” Dustin went on to say. “This is no different for us at Buurma Farms, Inc.”

Last year, Buurma Farms performed a Primus GFS audit on the Michigan farm and plans to do so again this year.

“Food safety is something that we take very seriously at all of our locations and we will continue to treat it with the utmost importance over the near and distant future,” he added.

“Derek and I are extremely proud to be a part of such a long-standing and reputable family-owned business in Buurma Farms, Inc. It is not very often that a family business is able to survive one generation let alone five as with our families. We look forward to continuing the tradition of raising the high-quality vegetables that have become synonymous with the Buurma name for not just our generation but also for many more to come,” Dustin concluded.