Rural Mo Tour – Rasa Orchards
Rasa Orchards is a family owned farm in Lafayette County.
Another long history stands behind Rasa Orchards located along highway 24. Norman Rasa is a partner in the family business near Lexington. Most of his life he’s worked on the farm except for a short stint away for college and to serve in the military. His farm kid memories are full of busy days working along side his father…
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| Since that time he’s seen a lot of changes in the family owned business…
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Which is why at the grocery store you’ll have a batch of apples to choose from that are generally the same size. Sorting the fruit is a task they tackle on the farm, moving an unimaginable amount of product… Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Rasa echoes what we’ve heard from others orchard growers, Mother Nature will have the fruits maturing sooner than usual… Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
 The market is located 8 miles east of Lexington on Highway 24. |
 Due to storm damage last Fall, the market received a facelift this Spring. |
When it’s time to gather the fruit, it’s a long term commitment. The more traditional crops in our listening area are harvested with equipment capable of handling hundreds of bushels in a few seconds, of course your talking about collecting seeds or kernels versus fruit. When it’s time to pick the trees there’s certainly no combine option and no blanket maturity date. Harvesters will visit each tree multiple times to collect each fruit at the right stage of maturity..
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| Which means migrant labor plays a significant role. Rasa and others in the area use both local and migrant workers to bring in the crop in a timely manner so customers get the freshest product available. As for the crop itself, it’s fairing reasonably well in the summer sun but he’s hopeful the triple digit temps won’t return..
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. The crop is marketed through two avenues. One direction is the red building on a hilltop along 24-highway. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
 Family members work in the orchard and at the market. |
Which is quite a change from days gone by…
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From his siblings and extended family there’s several members of the Rasa family who work in the orchard throughout the year. You may have even heard children’s voices in the background…. Norman’s grand children doing their part of having fun on a hot summer day.
