prestigious Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. By the time John graduated from Lodi High School in 1948, grain crops, including alfalfa and corn, and canning tomatoes were part of the mix. John joined his father on the farm as his older brother was tragically killed in World War II. Another tragedy occurred in 1952 when John’s dad died, leaving the farming operation in the hands of the young Kautz. John started slowly changing some of the crops. He added pickling cucumbers, green bell peppers and other vegetables, and eliminated the dairy cows. John also got involved in the farming community at a young age, which is still a hallmark of his existence. The list of organizations he has belonged to and served in one leadership capacity or another is lengthy, including Western Growers, California Farm Bureau and the California Wine Institute, as well as serving 11 years as president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. He has belonged to a score of organizations and has received too many awards to name, though it is interesting to note that John Kautz was named Outstanding Young Farmer in the Nation in 1965 by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. As a small farmer in the 1950s, he joined together with several neighbors and formed the San Joaquin Vegetable Growers Co-op in an effort to create leverage through collaboration—another hallmark of his life. Another big influencer in his journey, wife Gail Kautz, came into his life in 1958. “We met in a pizza parlor,” said Gail, “but I always liked telling my dad it was a bar.” Gail was studying at the nearby College of the Pacific—now Stockton’s University of Pacific (UOP)—and soon finished her studies earning a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education. She and John were married not too much later and produced three sons and a daughter in the 1960s—each of whom are now in the family business. Gail’s personal journey began in Oakland where she was born and raised the daughter of a lawyer. “I like to say I was a country girl born in the city,” as she was an active participant in 4-H clubs and Future Farmers of America (FFA). In fact, her influence won out over that of her husband when it came to raising their own children. They each followed the 4-H path rather than the Boy Scout route. In those early years, Gail stayed close to home raising the kids but as the years went by she became much more involved in Kautz Farm and the farming community in general. Like her husband, she has been an active community member with service to many different organizations, including UOP’s Board of Regents and the first woman chair of the California State Fair. And she has also been honored more times than there is room to relate. Today she has an office next to her husband’s in the company headquarters in Lodi and is involved in every aspect of their business. A Game-Changer In the 1960s, as a processing tomato grower, John called himself a “rubber tramp” as he would travel throughout the valley checking on his various tomato acreage plots. He was active in the industry and a member of the California Tomato Growers Association board when it worked with seed companies and the University of California to create varieties that could be mechanically harvested and the harvester to do it. As that project was gaining success, John witnessed more and more large growers eyeing the tomato industry. With a
mechanical harvester, these growers were creating continuous fields of hundreds of acres in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. “I saw the handwriting on the wall,” he said. “How could we compete with a 40 acre plot here and another small plot over there? We (in the Lodi area) had put ourselves out of business.” But instead of licking his wounds, Kautz shifted his acreage to wine grapes. He said the micro-climate in Lodi is absolutely perfect for permanent fruit crops such as grapes and cherries. “We have warm days but at night it’s like a giant air conditioner with the cool breezes coming off the Bay and the Delta. It’s a cool moist breeze from Sacramento to Stockton.” John said the result is a wine growing region second to none in the state of California. He admits that Napa has the reputation but he does not believe it can grow any better grapes or produce better wine than Lodi. As Kautz Farms began shifting its acreage, its holdings had expanded significantly and they continue to grow to this day. “I drew a circle on the map around my farm and anytime land became available, I’d buy it. Sometimes I paid a very high price, but it was worth it.” As he started increasing his wine acreage in the 1970s, Lodi already had a reputation for producing zinfandel grapes and wine. To this day, it is known for its old vine zinfandel, with some of those vineyards dating back more than 100 years. But again, Kautz decided to go against traffic. Most growers were planting zinfandel and barbera; Kautz put in chardonnay, merlot and Petit Sirah. “I was the only one with a chardonnay in Lodi for a long time.” In 1973, the company signed a 30 year contract with the Almaden Vineyard to provide that large producer with wine grapes. “That allowed us to grow quickly. We converted all of our vegetable acreage to permanent crops, including some cherries and almonds, which we still have.”
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SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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