Western Marketing Co

A.G. Kawamura--philosopher-farmer, builder of edible landscapes--steers his Chevy Blazer off the highway into a green-shimmering bean field. By all appearances, with a walkie-talkie in his lap, a pager on his hip and a cell phone on his ear, he is a high-powered grower stopping in for a 30-second inspection. But he immediately puts down the phone, seeking eye contact with pickers, whom he greets in well-accented, fluent Spanish.

A.G. Kawamura--philosopher-farmer, builder of edible landscapes--steers his Chevy Blazer off the highway into a green-shimmering bean field. By all appearances, with a walkie-talkie in his lap, a pager on his hip and a cell phone at his ear, he is a high-powered grower stopping in for a 30-second inspection. But he immediately puts down the phone, seeking eye contact with pickers, whom he greets in well-accented, fluent Spanish.

For most, a rainstorm is an inconvenience; for a farmer, it can spell disaster. No one knows better than A.G. Kawamura that the incessant showers and flooding have taken their toll of Orange County crops. Kawamura, president of Western Marketing Co. in Fullerton, farms 35 acres of strawberries and 800 acres of vegetables in Irvine and distributes the produce through the family-owned business. He estimates that the rare heavy rains have robbed him of 30% of his strawberry harvest.

A.G. Kawamura--philosopher-farmer, builder of edible landscapes--steers his Chevy Blazer off the highway into a green-shimmering bean field. By all appearances, with a walkie-talkie in his lap, a pager on his hip and a cell phone on his ear, he is a high-powered grower stopping in for a 30-second inspection. But he immediately puts down the phone, seeking eye contact with pickers, whom he greets in well-accented, fluent Spanish.

A.G. Kawamura--philosopher-farmer, builder of edible landscapes--steers his Chevy Blazer off the highway into a green-shimmering bean field. By all appearances, with a walkie-talkie in his lap, a pager on his hip and a cell phone at his ear, he is a high-powered grower stopping in for a 30-second inspection. But he immediately puts down the phone, seeking eye contact with pickers, whom he greets in well-accented, fluent Spanish.

Gov. Pete Wilson on Wednesday announced the appointment of two men to the Orange County Fair Board of Directors. They are: * Arthur "A.G." Kawamura, 40, of Huntington Beach, president of Western Marketing Co., a third-generation grower and agricultural shipper whose company markets produce across the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Kawamura, a Republican, is on the boards of the Western Growers Assn. and the California Celery Advisory Board.

Fruit scientist extraordinaire Kirk D. Larson, Ph.D, perched himself atop a wooden stool in a furrowed field of stubby, green plants. Then he lifted up a plump, red fruit, studied it keenly, and offered some wisdom about his quest to create the "super strawberry." For Larson, 40, it is the ultimate challenge. "Breeding strawberries is like breeding Thoroughbred racehorses," Larson said. "It's all in the bloodlines. You try to mate high-quality, high-performance plants with each other.

Stung by a health scare not of their making, most Southern California strawberry growers are halting their harvest of fresh berries a month earlier than expected. Area growers, who had planned to ship fresh strawberries through mid-May, said Friday that they are now shipping berries for processing into canned and frozen goods and beverages. "The shame of this is that the crop is the best it's ever been," said Doug Circle, part-owner of Kirk Produce in Anaheim and Laguna Farms in Irvine.

Fruit scientist extraordinaire Kirk D. Larson perched himself atop a wooden stool in a furrowed field of stubby, green plants. Then he lifted up a plump, red fruit, studied it keenly, and offered some wisdom about his quest to create the "super strawberry." For Larson, 40, it is the ultimate challenge. "Breeding strawberries is like breeding thoroughbred racehorses," Larson said. "It's all in the bloodlines. You try to mate high-quality, high-performance plants with each other.

When customers in Europe clamor for its computers, AST Research in Irvine wastes no time with ocean-going ships--AST computers take the plane instead. It's an expensive proposition, however. Shipping by air costs 10 times more than shipping by a combination of trucks and ocean-going ships, said Casey Kleindienst, AST's transportation manager. But an airborne load of personal computers arrives at AST's London distribution center within three to four days, compared to four weeks by sea and land.

For most, a rainstorm is an inconvenience; for a farmer, it can spell disaster. No one knows better than A.G. Kawamura that the incessant showers and flooding have taken their toll of Orange County crops. Kawamura, president of Western Marketing Co. in Fullerton, farms 35 acres of strawberries and 800 acres of vegetables in Irvine and distributes the produce through the family-owned business. He estimates that the rare heavy rains have robbed him of 30% of his strawberry harvest.

Stand in A.G. Kawamura's fog-shrouded bean fields and take in the pungency of fresh greenery and warm earth and it is easy to believe you are on a farm patch in the Central Valley rather than in suburban Irvine.