Three farmers are honored for distinguished service

By Peter Hecht

Wayne Vineyard’s great-great grandfather, William Vineyard, headed to California for the lure of gold in 1848 before finding his destiny in cattle and sheep ranching.

Barbara Vineyard’s great-great grandfather, Peter Oest, came to work in gold mines in the 1850s, then turned to planting pears, persimmons and winegrapes.

Kulwant Johl’s grandfather, Nand Singh, arrived in 1907 and in 1924 became the first known East Indian farmer in the Yuba-Sutter counties region.

Generations later, Wayne and Barbara Vineyard, husband and wife rice farmers and beef cattle ranchers in Placer County, and Johl, a third-generation tree-crop farmer in Yuba-Sutter, have forged their own legacies in agriculture.

This year, the Vineyards and Johl are recipients of the California Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award.

The Vineyards were recognized for 65 years of contributions to farming and ranching, including more than six decades of service to the Placer County Farm Bureau.

Johl, whose family runs Johl Orchards in the Yuba-Sutter counties region, has served on the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau board for 35 years, including four years as board president.

The farmers were honored at the 105th California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada, after being notified of their awards in advance by Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson.

“When Jamie called me, I said, ‘Man, there’s a lot of other deserving people besides me,” Johl said with a laugh. “I’m really tickled.”

“It was very humbling,” Barbara Vineyard said. “I had tears in my eyes after Jamie called. It’s a very humbling experience to be recognized.”

All three award winners had plenty for which to be recognized, including their service to Farm Bureau.

Wayne Vineyard, 88, and Barbara, 85, still work in agriculture, with Wayne involved in their rice and cattle operations and Barbara helping to manage the business, which now includes nephews Brian and Jody Vineyard.

Barbara’s father, Glen Oest, who managed the region’s Lonestar Dairy, was president of the Placer County Farm Bureau and appointed his son-in-law to serve as a board member.

“It was an organization that was good because of the way that it represented all of the farmers—not just one segment,” Wayne Vineyard said. “We can all argue over things because the hay guy wants high prices and cattle guy wants cheap prices for hay, but we come to a position where we work to help everyone.”

Wayne Vineyard has also served as a board member of the California Farm Bureau, the Placer County Agricultural Commission and the Placer County Fair Board.

Barbara Vineyard served on the Sierra College Board of Trustees for 28 years and is a longtime advocate of agriculture programs at the college. She managed the Placer County Farm Bureau’s Mt. Pleasant Hall for more than 40 years.

The couple has had 60 years of involvement with 4-H, with Barbara Vineyard having served as president of the 4-H Council of Placer County as well as on regional and state 4-H boards.

Johl never met his grandfather. Nand Singh died in 1956, scant years after acquiring farmland in Marysville. Previously, a California law banning Asians from farm ownership had prevented him from purchasing agricultural property.

Johl immigrated to the U.S. in 1970 and built on what his grandfather started.

“I had grown up in farming in India,” Johl said. “It was the only life I knew.“

These days, Johl’s farm grows more than 1,000 acres of almonds, walnuts, peaches and prunes. His sons, Paul and Robby Johl, help run the operation.

Johl also works as a pest control advisor, is a member of the California Cling Peach Board and serves as president of the American Punjabi Heritage Society. He was the first East Indian board member of the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau and has been a leader in the region’s burgeoning community of Sikh farmers.

Johl was intrumental in helping create the Butte-Yuba Sutter Water Quality Coalition. He is a board member of the Yuba-Sutter Fairgounds and helped forge a close partnership between the fair and the county Farm Bureau.

“Kulwant Johl is the foundation of the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau,” said Jim Marler, a Meridan walnut farmer and former Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau president who nominated Johl for the Distinguished Service Award.

Marler described Johl as “an exemplary example of pride and dedication to agriculture and its properity.”

(Peter Hecht is chief editor of publications for the California Farm Bureau. He may be contacted at phecht@cfbf.com.)