Jimmy Nardelli was just knee-high to a grasshopper, as the saying goes, but he already knew the career path he would take as an adult.

Hanging around the company’s farm, Nardelli Lakeview Farms in Cedarville, NJ, with his father, Bill Nardelli, company president, and his grandfather, James Nardelli, Jimmy Nardelli knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a farmer.

“I started working in the company when I was 16, during weekends and during school recesses,” said Nardelli. “But I’ve always known that as soon as I graduated from college I would come on board full time and permanently.”

Jimmy Nardelli, Bill Nardelli Sr. and Bill Nardelli Jr. like to spend time together fishing for tuna and marlin off the New Jersey coastline.Nardelli, now age 23, graduated from the University of Delaware in Newark, NJ, in May with a degree in Food and Agribusiness Marketing and Management. The program applies marketing, management, sales and business concepts to the food and fiber industry.

“I wanted to go to an agriculture university and this was the perfect major for me,” explained Nardelli. “It also delved into the farm management end and even included dealing with consumer behavior. The course covered economics and mathematics as they are related to food and farming. Overall, the program provides a broad overview of farming and all of its related issues.”

Even during high school he was participating in farming initiatives. For two years he served as president of Future Farmers of America in the chapter that included Cumberland Regional High School in Upper Deerfield, NJ, where he attended.

He also served as liaison to Cumberland County Board of Agriculture.

“While meeting with the board I helped to solve issues facing the young farmers in the agriculture industry,” said Nardelli. “I then continued my membership throughout college where I received my American Degree, which is the highest degree you can receive through Future Farmers of America. This organization was a large part of my life, and it offered me numerous opportunities to compete on both the State and National levels.”

While at the University of Delaware, he was a member of the National Agriculture Marketing Association, and he served as president of the university’s team.

“Our team created a product and marketing plan throughout the year,” he explained. “We competed in Kansas City, Missouri, against many other large agriculture universities during the spring semester.”

Nardelli also took some plant science classes that nurtured his extreme interest in farming even further. He says he’s always been a lover of the outdoors, so working in the field is where his heart is.

He joins his father Bill Nardelli, and his brother, Bill Nardelli Jr., at Nardelli Lakeview Farms. Bill Jr. joined the company as a sales representative when he graduated, also from the University of Delaware, in 2012. The company has numerous modern produce farms within close proximity to its original Cedarville farm, which it has farmed since the first generation of Nardellis emigrated from Italy in 1898.

Nardelli’s love of the outdoors doesn’t stop at the farm. He is an avid hunter and fisherman.

“I like to deer hunt in New Jersey during the hunting season,” said Nardelli. “And I do a lot of fishing out of Ocean City and in Florida. I enjoy salt water sport fishing. My biggest catch was a 600-pound blue marlin off of Ocean City in August three years ago. It took a little over an hour to reel it in. It was a tag and release fish, but it was quite a thrill to bring it in.”

Nardelli also enjoys playing golf, which he does at Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove Township, NJ, or at Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point, NJ.

A few years ago Nardelli Lakeview Farms opened an office in Plant City, FL, and he tries to take a little time to play a Florida course when he is there.

“I played on my high school golf team,” Nardelli noted. “That’s when I got the bug. Although I love to play, it’s a matter of having the time.”

Nardelli is now living out his lifelong dream of being outdoors working on his family farm. His education, experience and his heritage have all combined to provide him with some insight into how he believes farming will change in the future.

“We’ve come a long way in my lifetime with regard to food safety and traceability,” he said. “Our farms are fully irrigated using the most modern farming techniques available. Our practices and products are U.S. Department of Agriculture certified and are audited by third-party USDA approved inspectors for quality and sanitation. These aspects will definitely continue to evolve and affect the produce industry into the future.”

Technology, imports and exports, transportation, farming practices and sustainability will also, he says, continue to change the landscape of the industry.

“We are learning more advanced methods of planting and harvesting that yield more produce while keeping quality high,” said Nardelli. “And this is important as our population is increasing.”

He also believes that the local movement will strengthen in the future.

“Consumers like the combination of benefits that locally grown provides,” he said. “Produce reaches them fresher because it’s on store shelves the day after — or in some cases the same day — it is harvested. It doesn’t require a lot of fuel because it’s traveling short distances. And buying locally grown helps to support and bring communities together.”

Not leaving a footprint also applies to other aspect of growing food today.

“This means using packaging that contributes to the good health of our planet, recycling and using growing practices that are good for the soil,” he said.

Nardelli said his vocation is definitely his avocation.

“I love working with my father and brother. Farming is more like a hobby to me, so I don’t really consider it work. I’ve wanted to do this since I can remember, and I’m truly living out my dream.”