Georgia Vegetable Grower Succeeds in High Stakes Industry

Jason Tyrone took a circuitous journey before establishing a highly successful vegetable farm in Lake Park, Georgia. After graduating from Mississippi State University, he returned to his home state of Arkansas to work. After additional steps, he established Tycor Farms in 2010 with his now brother-in law.

Tycor Farms grows peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, cabbage, and green beans. Their location offers many positives. Crops are grown in sandy soil, which drains well. The climate allows for spring and fall harvests, and the farm is near major interstate highways which help with distribution.

Tyrone said maintaining consistently high-quality produce is vital, as it helps the vegetables hold up well during their journey to market. It also helps keep customers coming back for more.

“I started with Redox not long after I started farming, first with their calcium product,” he said. “That’s a big thing in bell peppers.  We saw a lot of improvements looking at numbers on paper and quality itself, so it’s been part of program for probably 15 years.”

The H-2A guestworker program is a key part of the farm’s workforce. At its peak, Tycor employs some 275 farm workers.

“We would literally be nothing without them,” Tyrone said. “I’ve been here, in total, for almost 20 years. Some of the same people have been coming here for as long as I’ve been here. We have a lot of return workers, especially our main guys. They love coming here. They take time away from their family to come here for two or three months at a time. They want to make all of the money they can. They take a lot of pride in their work at this farm, which means everything to us.”

Food safety is a top priority at the farm, with a full-time employee devoted to this area. As Tyrone explained, “If everybody is doing their part to make sure we’re sending off a good, healthy product, we’re all better off.”

At the end of a long workday, Tyrone said he remains fascinated with the growing process.

“That’s what keeps me doing this,” he said. “That’s my favorite thing, is to watch the crop grow and how good it looks there at the end before we start tearing it up picking it.”