Embracing Opportunities 

The Harward family of Springville, Utah runs a successful agribusiness with several enterprises, each managed by a different member of the family.  Innovation and growth have defined the family operation in recent decades, but the Harwards trace their roots back to a more traditional agriculture operation. 

 “The farm dates back to pioneer stock,” said Jud Harward. “The main place started with my dad in 1945. He had a very traditional farm — a beef cattle operation, farmed and fed cattle.”  

Jud grew up working on the family farm, but when the time came for him to choose a career, the farm was not large enough for him to earn a living. Jud went to college and started working for a commercial bank as an agriculture loan officer. While working at the bank and later running his own appraisal business, Jud maintained his love for agriculture and continued to work on the farm as time allowed. After the passing of his father in 1986, Jud became even more involved in the family business.  

“In 1986-1988, we could see the opportunities out there. That’s when we started on these side projects of raising sweet corn and as a whole family selling it at the roadside stands.” 

A Family Operation 

Jud and his wife, Marsha, along with their four children Kirsten, Aimee, Lenny and Jake, spent summers growing and selling sweet corn out of the back of a pick-up truck.  

“When we started this venture out, we’d go pick the sweet corn in the morning, load three or four wagons, go home and change our clothes, then go up town and sell it. Then we’d turn around and do it again the next day,” he said.  

During this time, Harwards agricultural pursuits continued to grow, including farming additional land and adding a spraying business. As their business and children grew, they evolved to where they had three distinct operations, each with the capacity to support a family. Recognizing this, Jud sat down with Lenny and Jake and together they determined which part of the business they would operate on their own.  

“Me telling them what to do didn’t work! Their minds are sharper than mine. They have more ideas than I have,” said Jud. “So, we created kingdoms, where each person has his own separate business, stand alone.”  

This transition was pivotal in the progression of Harward Farms and has been instrumental in the success of each business. Today, Jud operates the commercial hay, Jake runs the produce and agritourism, and Lenny does the custom spraying.  

“We’re separate, but we’re together as a family,” said Jud.  

For Jud and Marsha, seeing their children succeed. makes all the work worth it.  

“There’s no more success as a parent than seeing your children do better than you did, not necessarily just farming, but everything in life. That’s the biggest reward as a parent,” said Jud.  

Produce and Agritourism  

Over the years, Jake and his wife, Sara, have expanded the sweet corn business to include a variety of other items such as tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, pumpkins and more. Most of the produce is sold at roadside stands, with the remaining sold wholesale.  

One of the challenges the Harwards have is maintaining enough crop ground since they are in an area of Utah County that has seen a lot of development in recent years, development that continues to consume farmland.  

“Keeping good farmland in front of us is a real challenge in Springville,” said Jud. “We have to keep reaching out farther and farther.”  

The population growth does come with some advantages, including additional customers to feed and entertain. Bringing people to their farm and educating them about agriculture is an important mission for the family.  

Each spring, for the past 25 years, they host 3,500 second graders during Farm Field Days. In addition, Sara also runs “Little Hands Farm Camp” during the summer months. Little Hands Farm Camp runs two sessions, each a weeklong. Children from ages four to eleven get to explore the world of agriculture including a visit to a greenhouse, riding a horse, making butter or ice cream, planting produce, learning from a beekeeper and more.  

“This year we planted a pizza,” said Sara. “We planted tomatoes, basil, oregano and peppers.” 

Little Hands Farm Camp gives Sara the opportunity to educate children about where their food comes from and the career opportunities that are available in agriculture.  

Another way Harwards help people experience the farm is through Jaker’s Jack-O-Lantern enterprise. While growing pumpkins for wholesale, Jake would get a lot of questions on one of the patches that was in town.  

 “We could see the potential, because people love to go out in the fall and spend time together and pick a pumpkin,” said Jake. “Halloween is number two behind Christmas, as far as people spending, so we’ve kind of capitalized on that.”  

Today, Jaker’s Jack-O-Lanters is a fall festival complete with hay rides, a petting zoo, a corn pile kids can play in, a corn maze, slides and food. Open during the month of October, they get as many as 5,000-6,000 people on a Saturday. As this event grows in popularity, they haven’t lost sight of their purpose which is to bring people to the farm and sell pumpkins. 

“We want it to still feel like you’re coming to the farm,” said Jake. “People still want that farm feel and environment.”  

This article was originally published by Western AgCredit.