Little Chico's Asparagus farm roots began when Ricardo "Chico" Herrera's father retired and he took over the family farm of 9 acres in 1970. Chico decided to begin an asparagus farm, as the asparagus industry was in high demand, and working for other farmers at the time only paid .50 cents an hour. Chico planted 4 acres of asparagus and 4 acres of pickles, and harvested the fields all by myself from sun up to sun down. Until 1973, when he got married and his wife began helping with the fields. With his wife helping with the harvest, he was soon able to purchase 15 more acres of land and planted more asparagus which resulted in Chico and his wife working 7 days a week from sun up to sun down. They went on to have four children together from 1975-1980, who then worked alongside them in the fields as they grew older. In 1980, Chico was able to purchase 40 more acres of farmland and planted pickles. His vision of having more farmland was achieved in 1985, as he was able to purchase a 100 acre farm and began planting asparagus for several years until he reached 60 acres of asparagus. In 1989, his farm acreage grew as Chico purchased a 71 acre farm, and planted more asparagus since the asparagus industry was booming. At this time, Chico was farming around 150 acres of asparagus until The North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect on January 1, 1994 and caused a major decline on Chico's farming business as it's primary crop was asparagus. Many local farmers suffered and experienced difficulties in selling their asparagus. Out of 10 Hispanic farmers in Oceana county, Chico became one of the two remaining Hispanic farmers who grew asparagus. Things became even more difficult in early 2000, as Chico experienced processing plants turning away his asparagus, as he was considered a small farm and they were only serving large farmers. By 2003, Chico had only one processing plant willing to take his asparagus and with the surplus of asparagus he needed to come up with new ways to sell his asparagus. Chico converted his small pole building into a pickling/fresh pack facility and began pickling and fresh packing his asparagus and a variety of other vegetables. He would then begin selling produce to local stores and at farm market stands in order to sustain his family farm. Chico's wife was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and travels far for Chemo treatments, three times a month. His wife is determined to overcome her illness and has continued to help Chico when she is able. Chico is determined to operate the farm every year, even with recent financial struggles. Fortunately, with some help from their grandchildren and adult children at times, Chico manages to sustain his small farm business. He hopes to be able to keep his family farm business growing as small family farms are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Chico strives to make conscientious efforts in ensuring that all customers enjoy their fresh affordable produce, and he stands by his produce guarantee that if you don't like it he will exchange it or refund your purchase. Feel free to visit Chico at his local farm market stands or contact him directly.
