By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

SWANTON, Ohio — Northern Ohio farmer Tom O’Neill had too much of a good thing, so he decided to share it with others.
O’Neill specializes in growing carrots on his Swanton farm in Fulton and Lucas counties and most of the carrots he grows ends up in Campbell’s V8 vegetable juice, which is produced at the Campbell’s Soup plant in Napoleon just 20 miles away.

O’Neill filled his quota for Campbell’s, but when harvesting was done for the season he had a 10-acre field of unharvested carrots. So O’Neill, along with scores of volunteers, mechanically harvested and hand-packaged more than 180,000 pounds of fresh carrots; and the fresh, orange vegetables were donated to 12 food banks around Ohio that are affiliated with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks.

“Growing carrots has been a family operation for my immediate family, and it’s helped me teach my children work ethic,” O’Neill said. “At one point in time, every one of my children have been in the tractor to make it work. We started raising carrots for Campbell’s Soups in 1973, and this year was a good year for carrots. We simply had extra carrots after filling our contract with Campbell’s Soups.”

Northwestern Ohio is considered the carrot growers paradise in this state.

“We start planting our carrots in March in an attempt to take advantage of the spring rains,” O’Neill said. “After that our goal is to take care of the green carrot tops. Our harvesting begins the end of July and can run into late October.”

In operation since the 1940s, the Campbell’s plant employs 1,200 in the Napoleon area, working with farmers to obtain products such as tomatoes, celery, parsley, lettuce, spinach and carrots.
Campbell’s takes in roughly 800,000 pounds of fresh vegetables per day. Of that, 60 percent are grown locally. And that’s music to O’Neill’s ears.

“As with most crops, carrots like sandy soil,” said O’Neill, who trades acres with a neighboring grain farmer to get just the right land. The rotation, he adds, also helps replenish the ground between growing season.

O’Neill makes deliveries to the Campbell’s plant as many as six days a week. In all, he produces up to 2,500 tons of carrots each year.

Many farmers are choosing to contract with large processors to secure prices. Some choose to maintain their independence and face the market.

“To be an open-market carrot grower is very risky,” O’Neill said. “We’ve been through our ups and downs in the ag community. Campbell’s has always been kind of a stabilizer.

“Being a carrot grower is unique. It’s something very different. It’s always challenging, and I like challenges.”

And it’s evident that O’Neill likes to share his harvest with others.
“What Tom did was to show that farmers are willing to step up and do what they can do make sure there’s food available throughout Ohio for the needy,” said Ohio Farm Bureau Organization Director Roy Norman.

The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks distributes food to more than 3,300 member charities, including food pantries, homeless shelters and other relief organizations in all 88 counties in Ohio.