Tzexa Lee

Tzexa Lee is the chairman for Specialty Niche Crops

Tzexa Lee, of Del Rey, provides a brand new perspective to the FCFB Board of Directors. As owner of Cherta Farms, he grows just under 40 different crops, many of them specialty niche crops, including many originating in Southeast Asian cultures.

Lee hopes he can educate Hmong growers about Farm Bureau. “Throughout our social history, many people originating from Southeast Asia have been treated poorly. Since Hmong first arrived, they have put their trust in people and different organizations, but some people have taken advantage of this. I want to show the community that Farm Bureau and other organizations like Farm Bureau are not here to take from the people, they are here to help.”

Lee currently farms 150 acres in both Del Rey and Clovis, but will be expanding with 60 acres of wine grapes in 2009. Lee began farming in 1986 with his brother Leng, and took over the operation after his brother passed away.

Lee, a Hmong farmer, has become a leader in the Hmong farming community. “Many people in the community come to me for crop advice for the upcoming year,” Lee said. “They ask me too for pesticide recommendations.” Lee also serves Hmong growers as a broker, often finding buyers for local produce.

Lee is working on a project that will ultimately benefit Hmong growers. For one year, he has worked with National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) on finding more efficient ways to farm niche crops that are typically grown by Hmong farmers. “We are working with NRCS on a permanent trellis system for vine crops, such as different types of long beans and melons,” Lee said. Part of the project also looks at conservation tillage, which can ultimately lead to less labor intensive practices by reducing tillage.

Lee has acknowledged farming can be a difficult industry in terms of generating profit, but he said farming gives him a chance to help out both his family and community. “My family depends on the farming operation,” Lee said. “It puts food on the table.”

Lee is part of a very close family. “I am the eighth of 11 children,” Lee said. “I still have three brothers and three sisters here in the area.” Lee, the youngest son of the family, also had the primary responsibility of being the caretaker for his parents. This is typical of Hmong culture, he said. His mom and dad unfortunately passed away in the early 2000s, and his focus has been on the farm.

Lee’s family moved to Fresno in 1982 and began farming in 1983. His headquarters have been in Del Rey for five years, following his family’s removal from downtown Fresno due to eminent domain for construction of Chukchansi Park. His previous facility is now occupied by the Fresno City Fire Department just south of Chukchansi Park.

Lee has been working on the completion of his cold storage facility in Del Rey since the City of Fresno took over the building. He acknowledges that until the facility can be completed, there will be some financial hardship. “Not having the facility up and running has cut our income in half,” Lee said. Lee is working with Apcco Refrigeration Systems to get the facility up and running.  He hopes the facility will be in full operation in or before this fall, his peak harvest season.

Lee began school at the Fresno Adult School where he received high school credentials, and received his associate’s degree at Fresno City before transferring to California State University, Fresno. Lee graduated in 1994 from Fresno State with a Bachelor’s degree in both anthropology and linguistics. Lee received a Master’s degree in 1998 in anthropology at the University of California, Davis.

Lee has been able to use his education to help the community. He is a translator for the education center in downtown Fresno and also volunteers part-time as a medical translator for a local clinic.

Lee hopes he can help people understand the culture. For example, he has been looking at ways to communicate with government agencies on how one-size-fits-all regulations have made it tough on Hmong farmers. One example he cites is Workers Compensation Insurance, because there are hundreds of farms whose insurance cost more than what farmers are making on their niche crops.

Lee said there are many needs unique to Hmong farmers. It is much more difficult to find labor skilled in harvesting the specialty crops. The labor in the area is simply not skilled to harvest Southeast Asian crops. In addition, he said most farmers have extremely small operations, who can’t afford fixed costs associated with farming, which he said calls for a need for various exemptions to allow these families to prosper.

Lee said farmers don’t want to break the law, but unworkable regulations make it impossible for Hmong farmers to stay in compliance because their operations are so small. Lee always takes advantage of opportunities to share with people Hmong culture and the challenges Hmong farmers face. “I always make available time to share with others who we are and what we do.”

Family History

Lee’s path to the U.S. began with the Vietnam War, when the U.S. government worked with Laos to launch offensives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a path running from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through both Laos and Cambodia. This path was used as an important line of material and manpower for the Vietcong. Included in the offensive were Lee’s father and one of his brothers. After the fall of Saigon toward the end of the Vietnam War, his family fled to refugee camps in Thailand to escape persecution they faced in Laos from the Communist party.

When we left our homes in Laos, we had no idea we would end up in the U.S.,” Lee said. With help from U.S. leadership, after four years in the refugee camp, Lee’s family was brought with numerous refugees to Orange County in 1980. “We chose the U.S. because we wanted to start a new life,” he said. They moved to the Fresno area in 1982, where Lee’s family has been ever since.

Lee has been married to Kay since 1983. Kay took Tzexa’s last name because he thought it was appropriate now that he is American. “When I talk to other Hmong, they sometimes look at us funny, because in Hmong culture, it is forbidden to marry someone with the same last name. They think Kay had the same last name when she actually took my last name.”

Lee said he remembers the first time he saw Kay. “When I first saw her I could feel the heart beat,” Lee said. “I knew immediately she was the one.” Lee said he saw her carrying buckets of water on a farm, and shouted at her: “Hey, don’t carry the heavy water buckets! It’s bad for your health!”

“I had to say something because I was so excited when I saw her,” Lee said. He said that he commented on the water buckets because deep down inside he truly cared for her health, and because of that, he knew he had a connection. “I didn’t want her to get hurt,” Lee said.

Lee has three sons: Phaing Tsing, Pin Chang and Paul Zen. All three of them go to Fresno City. Lee stresses the importance of education to his boys, and sent them to Fresno City to get a good, affordable education. “If they aren’t doing well in school, they hear from me. I tell them they have to go to school if they want to do well in life.”

Lee said that his boys are a major help on the farm, and they have always been hard workers. He said his children’s education will provide them with the tools necessary to become successful.

Meet Your Board Members Profile: Ag Today, May 09
By: John Migliazzo