Lodi nursery owner receives prestigious agriculture award
For his entire life, all Kelton Fleming has known is the nursery business. Now after years of hard work, Fleming, who owns Duck Creek Nursery on Ham Lane in Lodi, was recently awarded the Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award at the recent California Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting in Monterey. The award recognizes young farmers and ranchers who have excelled in their operations.
“I feel quite honored because I got to represent California on a national stage, and it’s quite the honor. I really wasn’t expecting it,” Fleming said.
As an award recipient, Fleming had the opportunity to represent California at the American Farm Bureau’s annual convention.
“I didn’t make the top ten, but it was neat to meet all the other competitors and get to know people from all over the country and learn a little bit about their operations,” Fleming said.
He also received a $4,000 cash prize and 250 hours use of a Kubota Tractor.
“I’m most excited about the tractor,” he said.
Fleming said the tractor will come in handy while running his business. He plans to spend his cash prize on a vacation for him and his wife, Rachel. Fleming is grateful for all of her support.
Fleming decided to apply for the award in hopes of drawing attention to his business.
“I really think that it’s a way of drawing a little bit more attention to the nursery industry,” Fleming said. “It was a good way to network, reach out and let people know what I do. There is no better way of drawing more attention to my nursery and to our farm bureau organization in this area than to try to apply and to win.”
He filled out a large application that inquired about his involvement in the industry, community and the California Farm Bureau Federation. He was then interviewed by a small panel of California Farm Bureau Federation members. After completing the application and interview process, Fleming was selected as the award recipient.
“It really is just kind of a recognition of my hard work that I’ve done here at the nursery building it up,” he said.
Fleming is a second generation nurseryman. His dad started in the nursery business at the age of 16 at a Southern California nursery.
“The nursery business is all I know,” Fleming said.
He is also co-owner to Fleming Nursery Sales in Woodburn, Ore., along with his parents and brothers.
Fleming didn’t always want to be a nurseryman. When he graduated high school, he initially had dreams of being a mechanic. For two years he attended Modesto Junior College while working at the his family nursery before going into the business full time. In 2003, his brother opened a nursery in Farmington and Fleming assisted him with running it. His brother moved back to Oregon to handle family matters in 2011, and Fleming was left to handle nursery operations. Due to the downturn in the economy, however, the family ended up selling the property, and Fleming took on the task of moving the entire nursery to Lodi.
“It’s a challenging industry, especially when we had the downturn of the economy,” Fleming said. “Every day is different. I’m not selling one kind of plant — I’m selling hundreds, if not thousands, of different plants and scrubs. It’s ever-evolving.”