Kazarian started working on his parents’ farm as a child. His parents gave him as much responsibility as he could handle at each age, including giving him $1,200 to farm his own plot of vines at age 10.

From such experiences, he realized early on that he wanted to be a farmer. He also developed mechanical skills to fabricate, repair, and modify equipment to fit whatever he needed.

What Did Randy Kazarian Invent?

His first big project, made in his twenties, was a continuous-belt drying tunnel that could recondition rain-damaged raisins. His parents and two siblings cut metal for it while Randy welded. He and his family worked on it for about nine months, fitting the project around the other farm demands.

Since then, he created a pruner that can prune for specific variables, such as sugar or color. He also made a three-row sprayer that cuts spray time in half. He further developed his own leafer that removes some of the vine leaves in order to expose the grapes to direct sun.

One of his most interesting innovations is a de-barker implement that flails off the bark of the vine trunk to expose mealybugs. He follows that with his kicker boom that spring-loads from vine to vine, spraying insecticide on the trunks to kill the mealybugs.

“Not Done Yet”

Upon receiving the “lifetime” award at age 67, part of him thought, “That doesn’t seem right. I’m not done yet.” Maybe that is because he has never considered farming as something with a finish line. Instead, “There is always another season, another problem to solve, another crop to improve, another year to get better.”

— By Nancy Power, Assistant Editor