May Newsletter
May 2015 Extension News Serving Agriculture, Youth and Families since 1913 Growing Business: Never Tire Farm A few miles outside the hamlet of Lisbon, NY, Megan Bowdish “inadvertently” manages Never Tire Farm, a wholesale greenhouse operation successful and innovative enough to have garnered praise from a national trade group. Let’s be clear, there’s nothing accidental about the way Megan runs this thriving family business, founded in 1985 by her mother- and father-in-law, Patricia and James Bowdish. It’s just that with a degree in Elementary Education and English Literature, she didn’t set out to be a farmer. But when Patricia and James decided to retire in 1997, Megan and her husband Ray bought the business. Ray, who has a Master’s Degree in Entomology with a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture, was well-suited to take over operations at Never Tire Farm. Having done research on biological control of agricultural pests, Ray initiated an insect control program free of commercial pesticides. Another of Ray’s improvements was an elevated tramway system for moving plants between buildings and eventually out onto trucks. Like a monorail for flowers, switches can be flipped to direct “train cars,” each carrying hundreds of bedding plants. This saves time and labor, essential for a business that relies on family members for help. Over the years the Bowdishes have expanded the number of greenhouses to the seven in production today, for a combined footprint of 20,000 square feet. Although Never Tire Farm is small for a wholesale operation, Ray was highlighted in Greenhouse Grower magazine, a respected trade publication, in 2008 as being a significant leader in sustainable initiatives.
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