An interview with...

Darrell McGill
Farmer

 

Why do you love farming so much?

I love the challenge of growing stuff. I mean, it tells me that I'm accomplishing something, you know what I mean? Something that's real, and I enjoy it.

What do you grow?

Oh, I grow watermelons, corn, tomatoes, okra, onions, cantaloupes, you name it we just about grow it. Pumpkins! It's the best growing soil in the world right here.

When did you come to Farmersville?

Nineteen thirty-two -- January '32.

Can you tell me a little bit about arriving here in town? And what your early years were like?

Well, when we arrived here in town in January, it was very rainy, cold. And I think it rained most of that winter, till up to the last of May. The water was everywhere. We lived in tents. And we knew we had to make a move from where we were at to here to better ourselves, and that's what we did. We came west as far as we could. And back in those days there was so many people coming west to different areas: Farmersville, Visalia, Woodlake, Tulare, Porterville. You name it, they were there.

Do you know why your family chose Farmersville?

I don't really know. It's always been a mystery to me, why we landed here and stuck here. It's something about it that just held us here. And dad always felt that you're better off staying in one place than moving all to everywhere, and he was right. You save money, you save time, you keep family relations. That's important.

Is that what keeps you here even today?

Right. I guess I'm kin to half of the population in this town: Phillipses, Harrises, you name them! We all came from the same place back there, practically.

If we were here back in 1932 or even the 40's, what would we see here?

Well, actually back then it was all just hilly ground. Water stood there most of the year, with gigantic oak trees -- huge oak trees! And it stayed that way till, oh, up in the 40s. Most of the time until '41 or '43 before anything began to change. The farmers began to come in and started leveling and tilling the soil. That's actually when the changes began here. Right here behind me, there was a huge two-story house: the Bodeans'. And there was one right across the street where that shop is over there. There were two different people that were brothers in the family; they owned this property in here. It's amazing the advance this town has made [from] the position it was in at the time. Well, everybody that came here, practically then, were from off the farm back there in the Depression Years, so that's all they knew to do -- so that's what they did. So all those Okies and Arkies and Missourians and Texans built this thing, you know, from sweat and blood off their backs. And it paid off; this is one of the best farming areas here right here there is in this whole United States. People don't realize how cheap they're actually getting their food on the table from this. So you take those farmers back there who brought their experience here. Just like they come out of Mexico. They bring a lot of stuff out of Mexico we use here like growing things, and knowing how to do it. That's important! You take a guy who grew up in a city, he doesn't really know what's going on out here. So it makes a lot of difference.

How tough is it to be a farmer these days?

Well, there's different problems. You've got the weather. You've got changes in prices of fuel and electricity. You have to eat that; there's no way you can change it because the system is set up to benefit everybody. Some people may not like it but that's neither here nor there. Like I was saying about politics: if I don't like somebody, I do my politicking at the booth, that's it. Too many people try to carry it over with them. That don't prove anything to me. Getting business in this town, you have to give a business an incentive to come into the town. Right? Give them a tax break for 5 or 6 years -- or 10. It's going to pay you back double.

What kind of industries would you like to see come to Farmersville?

I would like to see some manufacturing plants, like maybe making different products. Whatever product would be in demand at that time is what you want to look at. We can do it, if we'll just get together and say, "This is what we want!" Like I said a while ago… You've got people are saying, "Well, that's not the way we used to do it." I say, Hey man! Yesterday's past, forget it! Let's move on. You can't change it, right?

Speaking of moving on, what are your hopes for Farmersville in the next ten years?

Well, I see Farmersville…let's see, we're around 10,000 now. I'd say, another ten years we'll be at 25,000. It's moving! These houses were all put here this year. And to get people in here, you've got say, "This is the way you've got to do it and we'll work with you." That's the only way you're going to do it. I say in another ten years you'll be looking at 25,000 in this town. I have no doubt. This will all be businesses here one of these days -- some kind of business; what, I don't know but it will be, I can assure you. And west, there's plenty of land that way; plenty of land east -- and south! So it's going to grow.

A lot of the growth in recent years has been Hispanic, at almost 80%, is that going to continue?

I would say so because as the Hispanics have more children, they're going to have children. Their grandchildren are going to have children. So, its just like anything else. It keeps expanding; you don't go backwards. I've got no problem with Hispanics. We've gotten along here back when there was nothing to get along with. We respected each other; that's what's important. Some of my best friends are Hispanics in this town. We grew up together as little kids. We had no problem. The main thing is you have to have respect for the other person, that's my theory.

Is this a close community?

You've got some diehards. I tell them, "Look, you're going anywhere by being, 'I'm better than you, or you're less than me.'" We're all created equally through God. There's no doubt. And I see our town growing. We had to fight real hard to get it incorporated in 1960. We had to or we were dead. We had to get sewer and water and everything; we got that. And the town will grow and I will go back again and say: in another ten years we'll be I'd say a minimum of 25,000. That's my estimation by looking at the growth through the past ten years. And our high school is going to help us considerably. Education is a key to the whole thing. I think it should be no kid left out. Of course, we didn't get it back then, but that was then, this is now here. We don't go backwards; we go forwards.

What for you is the best thing about Farmersville -- and what are its biggest challenges?

Well, the best thing for Farmersville that happened was we got it incorporated. We got sewer; we got water. And some of the things -- sure, you're going to have hindrances. You're going to have problems here and there but…this is like when I used to manage Little League before the town was ever incorporated. We would get together and say, "Look, we're all involved in this thing, and to succeed we must come together -- not apart." And that's some of the problem of the town. We've got some old timers… I've got nothing against them now understand, but some of them has got that "back there" [mindset]. You can't do that. You never look back; progress you don't stop. And as far as I'm concerned is one the best places in the Valley to live. You're three hours from the coast and the same to the mountains. You're in the best place there is. It gets hot here. I remember a lot of days in the vineyards of 110 degrees, but back then it was a dry heat. And when the west side farming came in, humidity comes up in there, which is condensation that moves southeast right into the Valley. Made it humid.

Do you have any worries that as the town grows you're not going to be able to keep working on this farm?

Oh, I know! Hey, there's no problem there, there's no doubt! Like I said, this is all going to be developed one day regardless. This is all commercial property now. On the other side of that over here, Whitney is going to be putting in a supermarket over there. That's his plan as he told me. Like I said, people think things happen over night but it doesn't! It takes time, it takes planning, it takes patience! You can't just go out here today and say, "Oh, I'm going to do this." You must communicate with the population and the town. That's the way I see it. And I think things are a lot better since we got the high school and our junior high. See, before that our kids were going to Visalia, Exeter. Now we're put our own money in on the schools, the town. It makes a difference. Creates jobs, better education -- that's what I think.

Did you have anything else you wanted to add?

Not much more, I figure I'll spend the rest of my days right here in this town. So I like it here.

Is farming a job or a hobby?

I don't make a lot of money, but like I said it's something that keeps you busy, it's something that's interesting, and it's something that's a challenge to see that you've accomplished something. Whether you make any money… Money's not the most important thing in the world. Shoot, I give the seniors lots of stuff out of this garden because they'd eat it and they can use it. I guess that's been the biggest part of my life; I've never been selfish.

And you know what I get a kick out of? It's these people that come out of Colorado and up in those coal states. They come down here and see all this stuff growing year round. See, you can three-crop this land here: spring, summer, and fall. It's interesting. It's a challenge. I love it.