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Growing Recognition
Tad Kuntz, farm market/orchard manager at Masonic Village at Elizabethtown (shown above with his father), received the Outstanding Grower of the Year Award from the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania (SHAP) during its Annual Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in February. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding presented the award.
Tad is the second in his family to receive the award.
“A peer selected award is very special to me,” he said.
“I have built many relationships with my agricultural peers over the years, and knowing they appreciate and respect what I have contributed is a true honor. I am humbled to even be mentioned among the past recipients, which include my grandfather in 1997. He passed away in 2012 at age 96, but I’m sure he would be proud I am following in his footsteps. My family members are the backbone of my education and work ethic.”
Tad is a fourth-generation fruit grower who grew up working on his family’s 650-acre farm, Kuntz Orchards Inc., located north of Gettysburg in Adams County. His father, two uncles, grandfather and great-grandfather were fruit growers. His grandfather and father taught him everything he needed to know about the business. After graduating from Bermudian Springs High School, Tad attended Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA, where he received a Bachelor of Science in horticulture.
Tad has worked as the farm market/orchard manager since 1990. He is responsible for managing production of a 50-acre orchard comprised of 30 different varieties of peaches, 63 different varieties of apples, sweet and tart cherries, pears, apricots, plums, kiwi and pumpkins. He is also responsible for the operations and marketing of the Farm Market, open yearround, and the seasonal Orchard View Café.
Elected to the board of SHAP, Tad has held every office including president. He has served on the Penn State Agricultural Engineering Advisory Committee, the Legislative Advisory Committee and the PA State Farm Show Food Court Committee. He has been helping at the PA Farm Show since age 8 when he stood on a milk crate to make change, and this past January, he completed his 45th year as a volunteer.
Tad has also been an integral member of several agricultural organizations, such as participating in the Ag-in-theClassroom educational presentations for 20 years (1995-2015). He is currently the chair of the PA Peach and Nectarine Research Program and the Lancaster County Extension Horticultural Advisory Committee and is secretary of the Lancaster County Fruit Growers Association.
Treasuring the Past
