Cultivating Wisdom : Farmers Still Seek Out Retiree Bob Brendler for His Invaluable Advice

In the quiet, thoughtful way of a man more connected to the earth and thesky than to concrete and the city, Bob Brendler has dispensed advice to Ventura County farmers for nearly five decades.

Through times of drought and bumper harvests, area farmers have sought out Brendler’s guidance on everything from soil preparation and pest control to crop selection.

Although the 79-year-old Ventura resident is now retired from the UC Cooperative Extension program, where he served from 1946 to 1991 as a farm adviser specializing in vegetable crops, you would never know it by the steady stream of calls he gets daily from farmers across the county looking for help.

Brendler still logs close to five hours a day at the cooperative’s office complex across from the Ventura County Government Center.

“It gives me something to do, it keeps my mind sharp,” said Brendler, sporting the same military-style haircut he has worn for decades. “I still enjoy answering farmers’ questions. I like researching things, always have.”

An early riser dating back to his days on his family’s Modesto farm, Brendler has reluctantly agreed to curtail his volunteerism with the Extension service to about four or five hours a morning.

But Monday through Friday he is up with the sun and preparing for the half-hour stroll he will take between his comfortable home near Ventura College and the UC Cooperative’s offices on County Square Drive.

When away from the office and the constant clang of the telephone, he spends time with his wife of 45 years, Rose Anne.

Brendler’s gentle, unassuming way belies his tenacious approach to his job--even in retirement.

“A year after he retired he was still keeping 12-hour days,” said Larry Yee, county director of the UC Cooperative Extension program. “We had to remind him that it was his time to take it easy and relax a little. It was then he agreed to cut back to just half-days. He’s an amazing person.”

As a child, Brendler helped his family raise grapes and cattle. But while at college at UC Davis, he decided he liked research more than the day-in, day-out labor of farming.

During his tenure at the UC Extension program, Brendler became a specialist in vegetables and row crops, developing computer programs still in use that tell farmers when to plant their crops.

Perhaps his greatest fame came from pithy monthly newsletters that were distributed to hundreds of Ventura County farmers.

Although the farm adviser program was eliminated in 1992 because of shrinking state budgets, his volunteer service has helped fill the gap while officials try to restore funding for the position.

“Just the number of calls he gets is an indicator that this is a job that is still very much needed,” Yee said. “We’ve put in a request every year to refill Bob’s position. However, so far, we haven’t had any luck getting the funds.”

UC Cooperative Extension farm advisers have been helping farmers since the service was established in 1913. In Ventura County, the Cooperative Extension is jointly supported by the University of California and Ventura County, which provides the office space.

Bud Lee, Brendler’s former boss, said Brendler’s monthly advice newsletters--published over the course of his career--were eagerly awaited each month by local farmers.

One of Brendler’s former colleagues, who retired from the UC Cooperative Extension after 30 years of service, agreed.

“Everything he said and everything he wrote was something the farmer could relate to,” said Bob Burns, 71. “He wasn’t someone that would come up with ideas out of left field, so to speak.”

Lee said Brendler’s other forte was in field testing different varieties of new vegetable seeds--often getting farmers to give up small corners of their acreage to test whether certain varieties of celery or corn were suited for the climate and soils of the county.

“Farm advising has been a great career, and the field-testing aspect has kept me in and around the fields,” Brendler said.

Although many of the farmers he has helped over the span of his career have long since retired, the bespectacled, white-haired Brendler remains a local agricultural icon.

“I can’t tell you how many times he helped me,” said Bob Grether, whose family farms about 3,000 acres of citrus and avocados in the Las Posas Valley near Somis. “He was someone that was always available and someone who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s been a good friend to Ventura County farmers.”

The recent infestation of the crop-destroying Mediterranean fruit fly in Camarillo and Somis may have been the worst threat to Ventura County farmers during his career, Brendler said.

“We have had bad rains and frosts over the years, but I would have to say the Medfly has been the single worst thing I’ve seen,” Brendler said.

Ironically, Brendler said, another threat to county agriculture is the loss of farmland to residential and commercial development.

“We are talking about something that is very basic--the ability to grow and market foodstuffs locally,” he said. “However, it is an extremely complex issue. Families should have the right to do with their land what they wish. There is no easy answer to the problem.”

Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said Brendler’s reputation is well-known across the county’s agricultural community.

“It’s been my honor to have known him for the last 15 years,” Laird said. “He’s where farmers go for help. He’s a true local legend.”

Brendler says he’s glad to help and has no plans to quit his volunteer job.

“Some days, it’s people looking for advice on how to get rid of termites in their homes, other days it’s farmers looking for advice on the best variety of a crop to plant,” Brendler said. “Every day is different, and that’s why I keep coming back.”