Born to be a farmer

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Joe Tonascia graduated from high school in 1975, and was already a year into becoming a lifelong farmer. He was a junior in high school when he began working for Mili Acquistapace at his 80-acre Acquistapace Farms, just across the road from where the Tonascia family lived in Santa Maria. 

A lifetime of farming

Now, at 68, Tonascia said farming continues to be more than just a job for him and his family. It’s their identity, their livelihood and mission. So much so that on Nov. 7, the San Benito County Farm Bureau (SBCFB) recognized him as its 2025 Farmer of The Year “for his contributions to local agriculture and dedication to the community.”  

“He was chosen as farmer of the year because of all his commitments, not only to San Benito County in general, but to the farming community in particular,” Farm Bureau Executive Director Brittany Brown said. “He is on so many committees. He genuinely cares about the future of San Benito County, especially for the next generation.”

Tonascia was born of Swiss Italian descent with an agricultural heritage going back 150 years. His grandparents were dairy farmers. His father also worked in dairies, as well as the cattle business, while his mother was a produce buyer.

“He got his start the way a lot of farm kids do—not by choice, but by being handed a hoe,” SBCFB board member Mary Coffelt said as she introduced him at the Farm Bureau event. “He spent time helping his grandpa in the garden, planting, weeding, and learning the harsh reality that weeds will always grow faster than any plant you actually want to grow.”

In high school, Tonascia joined 4-H and became good friends with Mili Aquistapace’s son Jimmy. In the speech given in his honor, Coffelt described their relationship: “They worked together on the farm with animals, moving irrigation pipes, and generally working hard for a man known as a no-nonsense kind of boss.”

Lifetime friendships  

“I got out of high school and Jimmy got out the next year,” Tonascia told BenitoLink. “Between the two of us, we were taking care of two 80-acre pieces of ground with vegetables, learning everything it took to do things from the ground up. He took care of one ranch, and I took care of another. He went to junior college down there at Hancock (Junior College), and I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.” 

In 1981, he moved to Spreckels and began managing 1,700 acres in the Salinas Valley for the Bruce Church Company, followed by a season at Christopher Ranch in Gilroy. 

Then he joined Harlan Farms in Hollister where he oversaw their bell pepper operation. He began to branch out on his own in 1983, as he cultivated 20 acres of yellow peppers behind Hollister High School.

Shortly after moving to Hollister, Tonascia struck up a friendship with Arnold De Brito, owner of Hollister Equipment Service, often providing free labor and, by happenstance, marrying De Brito’s daughter Karen in 1991.

Tonascia did not own any land at the time. Instead, he formed relationships which transformed into lifelong friendships as he worked on whatever land was available—no matter where that land was. 

He partnered with Jack T. Baillie Company from 1988 to 1990 growing bell peppers and watermelons in Bakersfield. Then he partnered with Top Quality Farms growing vegetables in Gonzales, and Yuma, Arizona. 

Overlapping deals partnered him with Kruger Foods to grow pickling cucumbers on 600 acres. All the while, he was also growing conventional row crops on 3,000 acres in San Benito County. Over the years, he steadily moved from conventional crops to organic.

Today, Tonascia operates Tonascia Farms, a family-owned business farming more than 500 acres of mostly organic crops in and around Hollister. He and Karen, their three sons and two daughters, all contribute to the company’s success. The farm produces a variety of crops, including organic apricots, walnuts and seasonal vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, garlic, onions and pumpkins. 

Much of the farm’s produce is sold through the well-known The Farm Bertuccio’s on the corner of Airline Highway and Union Road, where his office is located. There, his family offers fresh and dried fruits, nuts, jams, pickles and other locally sourced items.

On most Friday evenings, Tonascia holds court at what has become known as the “board meetings,” which take place in the car shop at Bertuccio’s, where he and a few friends gather to solve the world’s issues and share both professional and personal advice over a few cold ones. Tonascia says guest speakers are welcome but not necessarily listened to.

Changing times, attitudes 

Tonascia also has worked on the Hwy 25 widening proposals and is presently on the Ag Element Working Committee. 

San Benito County’s agricultural landscape has shifted more in the last 20 years than many people realize, according to the county’s annual crop reports. The changes reflect water supply pressures, land‑use politics, labor shortages, market shifts and the transition from traditional row crops to higher‑value, lower‑acreage commodities.

Tonascia has felt these changes and continues to deal with them every day. He described how he once was able to farm in just about any direction outside Hollister, traveling on dirt roads from field to field for miles. 

Now, with the county’s population at about 69,159, according to a July 2024 estimate based on the 2020 census, and plans to widen Hwy 25, which would affect farms on both sides, farmers are being challenged by ever-expanding limitations that he said are not based on the reality of what it takes to actually farm.

“I’m involved with this Hwy 25 project now,” he said. “They want to go across prime ag ground. We don’t have a lot of it. Unfortunately, some of that, quite a bit of it, may be going across ranches I rent.”

He continued: “I look at it from the standpoint, ‘what’s the benefit to the community other than a road to get to Gilroy?’ Nothing. It’s an expressway. We just get to Gilroy faster and get back here faster. So why is it not coming into Hollister out of San Felipe and Hwy 156 somewhere, where it’s already zoned for highway commercial?”

While Tonascia and other farmers are contending with the eventual expansion of Hwy 25, they are also dealing with the encroachment of houses on land they have long farmed and the surprise of new homeowners when they discover farmers often work at night and are protective of their fields.

“They complained 10 times in one year because they just don’t want to see any lights in the field,” he said. “They don’t understand the business and that we have a right to farm. I’ve had people tell me they don’t have to get off my property and cuss me out. And I’ve got to take it.”

‘How you treat people’

Over the years, Tonascia has farmed everything from a 30-acre patch of ground in the riverbed near the high school, to 3,000 acres, but to him it is not about acreage.

“It’s not how many acres you own; it’s not how many acres you farmed,” he said. “It’s about God, family, and how you treat people. And, at the same time, it’s about trying to put yourself in their shoes to understand what’s going on before you go out there and not make judgments and go off half-cocked. We can only do the best job we can. Be proud of what you have, take care of it, and the coin falls where the coin falls.”

After more than 50 years farming, he said: “I would not change anything. The good. The bad. I wouldn’t change a darn thing because that’s what life is all about. I think I’ve had a hell of a life. I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Tonascia has served on the San Benito County Water District Board of Directors since December 2008. He has been a Farm Bureau board member since 1982, and served as its president from 1995 to 1997. He has previously served on the San Benito County Planning Commission, the California Young Farmers board, the Sugar Beet Association board, and the Hollister Little League board. He has also been a community supporter in local initiatives, such as donating to help fund a new K‑9 for the sheriff’s office.

BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, San Benito County Farm Bureau , for helping expand the agriculture coverage around San Benito County. San Benito County Farm Bureau is state and national network of farmers. They are the largest agricultural organization dedicated to providing support to farmers and ranchers. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.