Every May 15 is celebrated in Costa Rica, the day of the farmer. This date was decreed by law 4096, published in 1968.
The day of the farmer is celebrated to honor the work that farmers do on the land and provide food to the Costa Rican population.
In Costa Rica, farmers play a very important role in the food, economy and progress of the country. Undoubtedly, agriculture has allowed the construction of towns, the creation of different occupations and the emergence of trades and professions.
From TCRN, we wanted to pay tribute to Mr. Guillermo Herrera Fallas, a farmer from Peréz Zeledón, Costa Rica.
A lifelong dream: To be a farmer.
He was born in San Pedro de Poás, Alajuela and as time went by, in 1975, already married, he moved to Pérez Zeledón to look for a farm to work with cattle, a dream he had since he was a child.
He dreamed of being a cattle rancher and being a chapulinero (a person whose main job or activity is to drive a chapulín or tractor); “at the age of 14 I was a day laborer, I went to work on other farms for a salary”, he said.
It turns out that he bought a chapulín for 3,500 pesos at that time and began to work on his own, harvesting sugar cane and coffee in Poás.
After some time, when he was already in Pérez Zeledón, Don Guillermo bought a piece of land. “I had been a butcher, I had had a butcher shop for 12 years in Poás. I always liked the countryside and I was always after it. And here I have made my life. I have four children. Six years ago my wife died. I sold the first farm I had bought and bought some small farms in the south and put cattle on them”.
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Don Guillermo learned to work in the fields when he was in school, through a project called La Estica, which was made up of veterinarians, “professionals in everything and with a lot of energy to teach you. And since I liked it so much, I was one of the first who learned to give subcutaneous injections, to palpate, to all those little things; I learned very young to mark contour ditches in the farms so that the land would not be washed”.
Countless valuable harvests
Today this great farmer is 84 years old and is still active as a farmer.
Not only has he worked with cattle on his farm, but he has also had sheep, whose meat he sold at the various local fairs.
He has taken numerous courses in the world of livestock farming and has the virtue of being very observant.
For three consecutive years he was the best coffee producer. “I was a good coffee grower, because at that time with La Estica in school I made coffee storage, I learned from Mr. Elías Jiménez, who was a mastermind in everything regarding coffee”.
Today he has 1,600 sticks of oranges. He continues to go to nearby fairs in Tinamastes and Dominical to sell his famous orange juice, considered by some citizens as the best!
“I am doing very well selling orange juice because all the people support me, because besides being very good, it is organic” he assured.
It is worth mentioning that he worked with lamb meat for six years, “I am a butcher, I know about cuts, I used to have lambs here, I used to raise them”.
An admirable experience…
Don Guillermo formed the Chamber of Cattlemen in Perez Zeledon, served as a director for more than twenty years, and was treasurer.
He still has cattle on his farm, but because of an operation on one of his knees, his children are now in charge. Meanwhile, he has his space, a small farm, 20 blocks where he works with oranges.
Little by little he has been adapting to things according to his age. When he realized that he had reached a certain age, he decided to resign from the Chamber of Cattlemen.
How has agriculture changed in recent times?
In Don Guillermo’s opinion, agriculture has changed in many ways. “The most serious problem we have had is that governments have been pushing us aside: farmers, those of us who work, those of us who produce, have been pushed aside. For us, everything is more expensive every day and what we produce is cheaper, so I have tried to produce something to make money without putting it as a big businessman”.
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The Tico farmer emphasized several challenges he faces through his work in the field, one of them is the weather, and the torrential rains and because of them, everything is flooded and it becomes difficult for oranges.
However, on the farm, he has maintained a soil conservation mechanism: “What I have are drains with an appropriate slope, so that there is no washing, I keep taking the water out of the farm and throwing it into the streams so that there is no washing. I learned everything from the man who taught us how to grow coffee in school. It hurts me a lot to see the rivers full of dirt when it grows”.
Advice for those thinking of starting a career in agriculture
As advice for people who want to start in the world of agriculture, Don Guillermo Herrera suggests that they should prepare themselves, and educate themselves with people who really know how to do things and want to help.
He recalled that he had wonderful help… When he lived with his grandparents for several years, he noticed that his paternal grandfather was very intelligent “and he said that I looked like him. He taught me to drive when I was 13 years old, with an empty bus from Alajuela to Poas, at that time there were few cars and you could, then I drove a truck”.
There are many teachings that Don Guillermo has, both in country life, as well as in his day-to-day life. In October of this year 2025, he will be 85 years old and for us at TCRN it was a pleasure to tell you his story today.
The Day of the Farmer is an opportunity to thank farmers for their work and recognize the importance of agriculture for Costa Rican society.
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Wilmer Useche
