Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1349956
ALMOND COMMUNITY Born in January 1940 to parents who immigrated from the Azores, Paiva grew up milking cows before school alongside his brother and sister on the family's dairy farm, located in the town of Nord, northwest of Chico. In the 1950s, while still a teenager, his father passed away unexpectedly, leaving Paiva as the head of household. "Jim was the sole supporter of his mother at the time and had virtually nothing to build upon to get his farming operation started," said Jim Jasper, president of Stewart & Jasper Orchards and recipient of the 2015 Almond Achievement Award. After graduating from Chico High School, Paiva started taking college courses but eventually dropped out and returned home to provide for his family. Paiva decided to pursue a career in construction to pay the bills, but his heart remained in farming. "After several years in construction, Jim decided to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a farmer," recalled John Raftery, controller at Paiva Farm Management. "When he told his wife Geraldine that he was quitting the construction business, she asked, 'How are we going to eat?' Jim said, 'Honey, don't worry about it. You leave that to me.'" In 1970, Paiva planted his first almond orchard next to his family's dairy and then entered the commercial almond planting business. Working with his crew, Paiva developed orchards all the way from Chico to Lost Hills. From Motta's perspective, "the success of those plantings has greatly increased the almond production in California." While developing orchards, Paiva's production knowledge grew rapidly as he quickly learned the ins and outs of almond farming through daily trial and error. Paiva's growing understanding also stemmed from his collaboration with University of California (UC) researchers, particularly farm advisor emeritus Joe Connell of UC Cooperative Extension in Butte County. "Jim was always willing to help me address almond industry problems with little regard to personal cost," said Connell, who met Paiva in the early 1980s when Paiva encountered a problem with a new almond planting. Findings from research conducted in Paiva's orchards delivered huge benefits to the industry, and his contributions significantly helped Connell and other UC researchers crack the code on multiple production quandaries. "Jim's cooperation helped solve the Almond Union Mild Etch problem, contributed to improved management of almond scab and stimulated the discovery of the almond replant disorder that is still paying dividends for replanting future almond orchards. He was an excellent UC Cooperative Extension cooperator and supporter of the UC's almond research," said Connell. After years of acquiring production knowledge, Paiva became known as an "encyclopedia" of almond information for industry members across the state, according to Les Heringer, manager at M&T Chico Ranch. Heringer was one of many growers who went to Paiva for advice on establishing a new orchard. "In 1986, when I came to work at M&T Ranch, we were mostly growing row crops and were in development mode in planting almond orchards. I was told that Jim was the one to contact because he was the one to do it right. In those early years, he planted all our almond trees and helped us establish walnut and prune orchards. With his advice and management skills, we went from a few almond orchards to several thousand acres of diversified crops," said Heringer. Influence beyond farming, beyond almonds In 1971, Paiva built an almond huller, in 1994 he built an almond sheller nearby, and then a facility upgrade in 2010 resulted in the "state-of-the-art commercial almond huller and sheller facility that exists today (Paiva Hulling and Shelling)," according to Raftery. Paiva served on the North Valley Ag Services Board of Directors from 1994 to 2001. "His first love (besides his wife Geraldine) was farming. He traveled domestically and internationally to South America, Australia and Europe just to see how others farm around the world. Jim would rather be on a tractor than anywhere else." — John Raftery Continued from page 2 3