Linda Dußois jumps into faming.,jnd comes out a winner
BY RITA SHADE
Staff Correspondent
ELMER, NJ - The first ex
perience Linda Dußois had on a
farm made- her see green.
Literally.
“I was a city girl. The only thing
I knew about tractors was that
they held up traffic,” she says.
“But, I was dating Stephen, and he
was a vegetable grower. One day,
he had spinach to load, so he took
me and his sister and put us in the
back of the trader. All of a sudden,
all this spinach started falling on
top of us by the bucketfulls. He told
us to start stomping, and did we
ever!”
That chuckling scene,
reminiscent of the famous “I Love
Lucy” wine-stomping episode, has
been repeated often since that day
nearly eight years ago. Now
married to Steve, who is in part
nership with his brother Henry,
Linda and the Dußois brothers
farm 2,000 acres near Elmer in
Salem County, and they are one of
a few spinach growers in South
Jersey.
“I’m a veteran spinach grower
and a pinch hitter during plowing
and planting,” she says.
Today, she talks easily about the
“right angle whine of the central
pivot,” and she’s just as
knowledgeable about pesticide
legislation, water allocation and
other major issues facing farmers
in the Garden State and in Salem
County.
In fact, having jumped with both
feet into agriculture, Linda, with
impressive style, quickly won an
appointment on the Salem County
Board of Agriculture.
“I was active in the Farm
Bureau’s Women’s Committee at
the time, and one day some
members asked if women could
serve on county boards. I said I
didn’t think women were allowed,”
she explains. “The next night just
happened to be a county board
meeting, so I asked. They told me
to submit a letter, and I did. The
next vacancy coming up was
Stephen’s brother’s seat. They
debated the matter, and elected
me.”
homestead
tuples
Linda and Steve have two sons, Michael, left, and Steve Jr., right
A year later, the Salem County
Board of Agriculture voted to send
Linda to Trenton as its
representative on the New Jersey
Farm Bflreau Board of Directors.
And, while there are now several
other women on County Boards of
Agriculture around the state since
her Selection six years ago, Linda
is the only woman director at the
New Jersey Farm Bureau, where
she is serving her fifth year.
In describing herself, Linda says
she is neither a strident feminist
nor a harmless “little lady” on the
two boards. Rather, she has
demonstrated herself to be issue
oriented and a respected voice at
policy meetings and conventions.
“The issues facing farmers are
tremendous. We’re already bur
dened with increasing paperwork
and regulations. We’ve always
farmed here in South Jersey and in
Salem County, figuring nobody
would bother us, because we’re so
isolated,” Linda says.
“Now, we are finding ourselves
in the middle of a number of issues
pushed by special interest groups,
primarily from North Jersey.
Unfortunately, many of these
people are three generations
removed from the farm. They’ve
never stepped foot on a farm and
certainly do not realize the
demands of making a livelihood in
agriculture. We’ve already suf
fered from their overwhelming
dominance of politicians with the
leg-hold trap legislation,” Linda
explains.
The law banning all types of leg
hold traps is a very emotional issue
in Salem County, which is known
as the muskrat capitol of the
world. The million-dollar-plus
trapping industry provides an
income to help defray college
educations and other family ex
penses, and also is an effective
way of controlling destructive
muskrat.
“Another major issue we have
been confronting is cumbersome,
restrictive anti-pesticide
legislation promoted by en
vironmental groups. We’re also
faced with a strong effort to
organize farm labor.”
The two Dußois families hedge
unpredictable markets and
weather by growing nearly a dozen
crops. They douple crop, starting
off with spinach, mustard, kale,
collards and turnip greens in the
spring, followed by green beans,
peas, lima beans, soybeans, field
corn, hay - and spinach once
again.
“Before the seed goes in the
ground, it has a home,” Linda
says.
The two families, in partnership
under the name H&S Dußois,
contract with processors and then
divvy up the acreage for the
various crops. The harvest is sold
to nearby Seabrook, Tri-Co Foods
in Lancaster County, Pa., and to
Birdseye in N.Y.
Steve, now 34, and Linda, 32,
believe they are the last “new,
young farmers” to start an
operation in the Elmer area who
did not take over a family farm.
“Steve’s dad and grandfather
were dairy farmers. But the family
realized the future of the dairy
industry was not strong enough to
support another family,” Linda
explains.
So, Steve, who was only 18, and
his brother, just five years older,
struck out on their own with a few
rented acres.
“They decided it was enough of a
risk to go into farming, so they
opted to avoid the fresh-market
and to grow under contract,”
Linda says. “Steve’s grandfather
taught us that the more eggs you
have in the different basket, the
better off you are. And he was
right.”
Steve and Henry’s approach
turned out to be a good one.
H&S Dußois is now one of the
largest firms in the county, having
acquired or leased its land within a
convenient 10 mile radius of the
family homestead. It has been able
to buy a coveted “PixAU Bean
Stalker” and other equipment to
allow all crops to be harvested by
machine. And, it has diversified
and developed into an art the
ability to grow spinach, the
mainstay crop which can be
troublesome.
“I swear the only thing H&S sees
during the growing season is
green,” she jokes. “If I turned into
spinach, I think they might notice
me.”
She says there is an increase in
competition in the production of
spinach for processing, but a
number of people who would like to
start growing it have been
reluctant to make the com
mitment.
“Spinach is not an easy crop to
grow,” Linda says. “When it’s
warm, spinach has to be cut when
the sun goes down. I’ve seen many
times when the night shift meets
Linda Dußois, right, has learned a lot about farming since
she started dating Steve eight years ago.
the ipoming shift. Steve is out
there all night long on the tractor,
then comes in and goes back out to
plow another field. He may forget
to sleep for a couple of days.”
H&S Dußois employs seven full
time, year-round workers, and
brings on several additional part
timers during the growing season.
Work begins in March and goes
through Dec. 15. From December
until March, the crew maintains
equipment, Steve trucks grain to
market, and backhauls fertilizer.
Henry manages the office, while
Steve prefers to be out in the fields.
Linda says she’s part of the
“reserve crew.” She moves trucks
and equipment, runs for spare or
broken parts, and fills in where
needed during growing and har
vesting.
“And, of course, before the boys,
I stomped.”
The “boys” are Steven Jr., now
6Ms and Michael, 3%.
A full-time secretary spares
Linda bookkeeping chores and
allows her to spend more time with
the children and devote energies to
serving on agricultural and civic
boards. With Steven in school and
Michael attending a pre-school
program, Linda also has been able
to return to substitute teaching.
A recent incident in the
classroom underscored the need
for agricultural education in the
classroom, a program she directs
as head of the county’s women’s
committee.
“I asked the kids where milk
comes from. They told me it comes
to the store from a truck,” she
says. “Only two of the 25 kids had
ever seen a cow.”
Now, that does sound strange for
a rural school in a farm com
munity. But Salem County, like
other counties in New Jersey, is
experiencing an influx of city
people. Both blue collar and
professionals have been moving
into the area to work at the Hope
Creek nuclear generating station.
The mix of people creates
divergent opinions regarding the
traditional ways of farming.
“We had someone move into a
house near one of our fields and
complain about the noise from
irrigation. We irrigate around the
clock during growing season, and
he was annoyed. We put up a
building around the power
generator, and he still complained
about the whine of the right angle
drive.”
Through the picture window in
Linda’s living room you can see
several new houses built by
“cityslickers.”
“i don’t want to see things
change. I don’t see why they do
have to change. But we can’t live in
a bubble,” she says. “It’s now
important for farm families to stay
,abreast of what’s going on in their
county, state, and on a national
level.”
Linda points out that there are
only about 5,000 farm families in
the Garden State - twice the
number if you use the criteria of
the state census.
“Yet, we are the foundation for
New Jersey’s third largest in
dustry. We must be heard, if we
are to remain viable. ’ ’
For Linda, she plans to be heard,
and remain viable.
She was elected to serve another
year as chairman of the
Legislative Committee and the
Promotion Committee for the
Salem County Board of
Agriculture.
And, she is gearing up for
another year of chairing the Salem
County Women’s Committee, a
year which will, embrace farm
women from neighboring Cum
berland County who would like to
join the only such program in
Southern New Jersey.
On the agenda for this year,
special dairy promotions, an “Ag
Awareness Day,” an agricultural
tour for school superintendents, an
agricultural breakfast for farmers
and other area businessmen, a
special meeting for farm wives to
brief them on topical concerns, a
coloring book contest for Ag hi the
Classroom, and a farm visit
program for students in New
York’s Harlem.
In a few years, both of her boys
will be in school, and she will have
more time to devote to policy work.
What’s her aim? President of the
New Jersey Farm Bureau is an
enticing goal.
“Look out Trenton! ” she smiles.
“Maybe then, they’ll be ready for a
woman president.”