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Article: Oregon-Based Blueberry Operation Expands into Clark County, Wash.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- June 19, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Dean Baker, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jun. 19--Billy Townsend and dozens of Hispanic farmworkers are turning the rich peat soil of this 95-acre ancient lake bottom into a sea of blueberries.
Townsend's Oregon-based family corporation is Townsend Farms, a $40-million-a-year berry producer and packer that has spilled its operation across the Columbia River into Clark County in the past three years.
It plans to pick its first crop of Reeka, Burgetta and Duke blueberries - around 75 to 100 tons - here beginning about July 4, said Townsend, 24.
"In five years," said the easygoing Townsend, a ...