Featured image: Jon Watson with JC Watson Packing Co in Parma, ID (left) and Jim Farmer with Fort Boise Produce in Parma, ID (right) receive Hall of Fame awards. Photo courtesy of the Idaho-E. Oregon Onion Committee Parma, ID office.
Two of the Treasure Valley’s best-known onion men, Jim Farmer of Fort Boise Produce in Parma, ID, and Jon Watson of J.C. Watson Packing Co., also in Parma, were honored as Hall of Fame inductees Tuesday, Feb. 1, at the annual Idaho and Malheur County Onion Growers Association meeting.
This year’s meeting was held in Nampa, ID, highlighted by the Hall of Fame ceremony.
Both Jim and Jon have devoted their lives to the Idaho-E. Oregon onion industry, and OnionBusiness extends a hearty congratulations to our two friends.
Jim was born May 22, 1950, in Ontario, OR, to Warren and Wilda Farmer and was raised in Nyssa on a 365-acre farm five miles outside of town.
The lifelong farmer – in every sense of the word – also raised his own family on the same farm less than a mile from the home where he grew up.
The second-oldest of seven children, Jim has four brothers: Warren, Tom, John, and Rick. He also has two sisters, Katherine, and Jane.
Warren Sr. and Wilma died in 1966, and Jim and his brothers and sisters left their family home the following year, separated. Four of Jim’s younger siblings moved to Seattle to live with relatives. Jim and his younger brother Warren stayed with family friends in Nyssa where they completed high school.
Jim joined the Marine Corps in 1969 and served in Vietnam with the Combined Action Program. When Jim returned from the service, he attended the University of Utah using the G.I. Bill and graduated in 1973 with B.S. degrees in Accounting and Economics. After graduation, he moved to Boise, where he worked for seven years as a Certified Public Accountant for Touche Ross and in corporate accounting for the J. R. Simplot company..
Jim and his wife Peggy met while they were attending high school in Nyssa and married on Dec. 22, 1972. They have five children: Jim, Joe, Emily, Megan and Molly; and 10 grandchildren: Eli, Cade, Luke, Wes, Jack, Millie, Maggie, Chloe, Russell and Holbrook.
Jim and Warren began growing onions in 1978 leasing back the family farm from the two bank trusts that controlled it. Today, they farm 3,000 acres as Deseret Farms.
The brothers, along with Tom and Dorothy Moore, started Fort Boise Produce in 1982 in a leased packing shed built in 1910 in Apple Valley, ID. In 1985 Fort Boise built a new packing shed in Nyssa next to the railroad depot, and in 2004 Fort Boise built a modern packing shed on the Idaho side of the Snake River. Fort Boise currently operates both facilities.
Jim has served on many boards and committees, including the Board of Northwest Farm Credit Services for 10 years. During this time Jim made several trips to Washington, D.C., to advocate for agriculture and farm credit.
He also served on the Board of the Idaho-Oregon Fruit and Vegetable Association and as President of the Association from 1999 to 2000. In addition, Jim served for several years on the Idaho-E. Oregon Onion Promotion Committee, and he was the Nyssa Fire Chief for five years
Jim commented, “I share this honor with my brother Warren. We have been joined at the hip our entire lives.” And, he added, “I would not be here if not for my wife Peggy who has stuck with me through thick and thin (too much thin) for 49 years. Special thanks to my son Joseph who has set me free.”
Jon Watson Jon was born on Sept. 14, 1951, to Jim and Dolpha May Watson, and he has one brother, Rick, and four sisters: Betty, Cheryl, Candy and Deanna.
His brothers and sister commented that Jon, in his youth, was always a high-energy, positive kid looking for excitement and adventure. His mother called him “the little brown bomber” because he was always outside, running around the neighborhood. He had a great tan, and he was a firecracker!
No challenge was too big for Jon. He and his friend, David Shuff, saw plans in Popular Mechanics for building a hydroplane, and they built it. They put a nice-sized motor on the hydroplane and zoomed around the local slough.
Jon wanted to water ski around where he lived so he, David, and Jon’s brother Rick skied on the irrigation canal pulled by their car. Skiing on the canal pulled by a car was not safe, but it was extremely exciting.
When skateboarding down the hill by his house on his homemade skateboard, Jon decided it would be more fun if he did it balancing on top of a garbage can. He was a risk-taker.
As soon as he was old enough, summers were spent working on the company farms thinning plums, driving tractor, and doing whatever else was needed. Jon has always been known to be a positive, high-energy, industrious and fun person to be around.
He graduated from Parma High School, where he was the student body Class President. Jon also wrestled in school and was an avid snow skier, and he waterskied in the summer at their family cabin in McCall.
Jon was involved with the family farm from an early age. He attended the University of Idaho and upon graduation in 1972 returned to work for the company in a full-time capacity.
Jon’s waterskiing brought another adventure into his life when he met Margie waterskiing in McCall. Margie was dating Jon’s friend, but he was able to steal her away when no one else could drive the boat for waterskiing.
The two were married in 1975, and today they have two married children: Brad (Faere Watson) and Emily (Colbie Libsack); and four grandchildren: Jane, seven; Anne, five; Harper, five; and Quinnley, two.
During his career, Jon has served on many boards and Committees, including the Parma City Council and the Parma Fire Department, where he was the acting Fire Chief for 20 years.
He also served on the Idaho-Oregon Fruit and Vegetable Association Board of Directors, and he was the Association President from 1982- 1983. Additionally, Jon served on the Idaho Apple Commission from 1995-2001, and he was elected to Idaho-E. Oregon Onion Marketing Order Committee in 1989. He continues to serve on that Committee today.
Jon has also served for several years on the Idaho-E. Oregon Onion Promotion Committee, and he serves on the Bruce Mitchell Foundation.
In 2009 when the U of Idaho Parma Research Station was being considered for closure, Jon co-chaired the Treasure Valley Ag Coalition to assure that didn’t happen. With Jon’s leadership and the strength of the Coalition Committee, the station is still open and operational today.
His involvement in the community and the industry can be highlighted with his outspoken views and dedication. From being involved in the community, to industry associations, and the marketing order, Jon has dedicated himself to the industry and his community.
