Robert Froehlich has been farming since 1957; Dean Froehlich joined him in 1983 together they run Froehlich Farms of Berrien Center. Froehlich Farms grows over 200 acres of fruit and vegetables including cherries, strawberries, zucchini, and apples of various varieties.

We employ a total of 20-25 seasonal people to harvest various crops. We start with planting our crops, tomato stalking, fertilizing and general labor in mid May. June 1 through July 1 we harvest strawberries, July 1-15 cherries, July 10 through September 10 zucchini, and apples are harvested from August 25 through October 10. Our season runs through the completion of the apple harvest in October. Most of our work is piece rate, however; we do have some hourly in packing and general labor duties. Cherries are harvested both by hand and mechanically. The rest of our crops are hand harvested with care to ensure top quality. We do have four licensed units to supply housing to our employees. There is no deposit or rent charged but workers are required to pay $10.00 a week each for utilities. Our pay is as follows: strawberries $2.50/8 quart flat, cherries $3.00 /lug, zucchini $0.75/bucket, and apples $14.00/20 bushel bin. We guarantee the Michigan minimum wage and employees that stay with us during our entire harvest season will receive a bonus.

Within the area, there is a newly built migrant Head Start school/ day care center available for infants through 6 years of age. The Head Start program provides school bus transportation. There is also a migrant health clinic nearby.