Roemer Farms Established 1882 Sacramento, CA

Horse Land Cattle California Heartland Journal

Today we caught up with Danny Roemer as he was coming in from irrigating the corn fields. Work on the farm is never done(p.1). The shop barn is always busy with the replacement of worn out parts. You learn to put a little bit of elbow grease in to everything around here.

Most afternoons youll catch Father and Son having a quick talk about events of the day over a cold beer(p.2). Mathew Roemer help load customers hay on theback of thier pick up truck or in some cases, a 2 door sedan (p.3)

Mathew Roemer is a 5th generation farmer. On this day (picture above) we drove to his corn fields and sample the young corns. This is about the only time we can consume the baby corn as this particular type of corn is being grown for livestock feed.

Roemer Farms History

Our family first settled in Sacramento, when Peter Roemer crossed the waters from Germany to America in 1881. He settled in what is now known as the Colonial Heights area of Sacramento. His farm consisted of one hundred and nine acres of well cultivated land, nearly the entire tract being devoted to the raising of grapes. Peter married Caroline Feil and they had four children, Christena, Clara, Carl, and Oscar. Oscar followed in his fathers footsteps. He purchased land on Hedge Avenue, which is part of the current Roemer Farm. Like his father before him, he began raising grapes. He married Helen Mollet and they had four children, Eleanor, Oscar Jr., Marjorie, and William. Unfortu-nately Oscars life ended too soon in a tragic accident, leaving Helen to raise four children on her own. Helen began teaching at the Enterprise Elementary School, a one room school house located directly next door to their farm.

Having lost his father at the age of 8, Oscar Jr. had to grow up quickly and as-sume the role of man of the house. As a boy he delivered the Sacramento Bee and helped tend the vineyards, chickens, and cows on the family farm. During the difficult times of the Great Depression he and his Uncle Paul Mol-let raised potatoes and sold them door to door. After graduating from high school in 1942, Oscar ran the family farm growing grapes and alfalfa. Oscar saw many changes during his first twenty years of life including the loss of his father, the Great Depression, the start of World War II, and the evacuation of the Japanese in May of 1942. Even though he was not required to enter the War, he enlisted in April of 1944 which took him on a two year tour of duty in Europe where he would fight in the Battle of the Bulge. After being released from active duty in 1946, he purchased eight milking cows and signed a con-tract with Crystal Creamery. In 1952 he married Mary Ann Pinola. They rented additional land connected to the property which he grew up on, which they eventually purchased to create what is today, Roemer Farms. They had four children, Danny, Karen, Debbie, and Wendy.

Danny joined the family business in the early 1970s. Danny brought his ex-pertise in farm machinery to the dairy business and they quickly expanded by leasing land and planting and harvesting crops such as alfalfa, corn for si-lage, and hay. In 1979 Danny married Judy and together they raised Daniel, Krystal, and Matthew. In 1995 they expanded the family business by open-ing Roemer Pumpkin Patch. With the help of family and friends, Danny and Judy continue to bring the traditions of the fall season to hundreds of school children in the Sacramento and Elk Grove communities. Its also a must do for family, friends, and their many faithful customers who return each year for the beautiful variety of pumpkins and gourds that they grow. Over the years Danny and Judy have expanded their business and now offer a 5 acre corn maze, a hay maze, hay rides, and many photo opportunities.

Dannys son Matthew grew up working on the farm and is now an integral part of the business. In 2004, it was with great sadness that the Roemer family sold the dairy. Roemer Dairy flourished for over 58 years, shipping exclusively to Crystal Creamery during that time. Since closing the dairy, Danny and Matthew have expanded into other areas and now offer hay for and custom farming.

The Roemers have been farming Sacramento County land for 130 years and look forward to many many more years of farming.