Ukrainian-Born Farmer Mike Katrutsa Has a Passion for Agriculture and Community Service
In partnership with: Tennessee Department of Agriculture
In the fall of 2024, Ukrainian-born farmer Mike Katrutsa volunteered – for the fourth time that year – to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine.
“You can still see damage, and the sirens, drones and missiles are still present,” he says in a phone call from his home country. “But the people are resilient and doing their part, whether it’s on the frontlines or where there is no actual fighting, to contribute to the war effort.”
Back in Tennessee, the 33-year-old owner of Mike’s Produce also serves his neighbors by sharing the bounty of his 25-acre farm in Camden.
See more: Ukrainian Native Mike Katrutsa Farms in Camden, Tennessee
Finding His Calling
In 2006, when Katrutsa was 14 years old, his mother married a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee and cattle farmer from Camden and relocated to Tennessee from Chernihiv, Ukraine, about 100 miles north of Kyiv. Farming was new to Katrutsa, but after planting a small garden of his own to earn a little money – and joining 4-H and FFA – he felt right at home.
“I just like being outside, and I like to see stuff grow,” he says. And his passion for farming extends beyond the fields, fueled by a desire to benefit his community. “I like to be around people and serve people,” he says. “I looked at it as a service, in a way, to increase access to fresh vegetables and fruits around here.”
See more: Urban Farms Add Greenery and Increase Food Access in Tennessee Cities
Upon graduating from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2014, Katrutsa jumped into farming full time. His stepfather, mother and six part-time employees now help tend the crops, which include everything from tomatoes and sweet corn to cantaloupe and watermelons. Katrutsa’s commitment to local agriculture has also drawn statewide attention, earning him the 2022 Benton County Young Farmer of the Year award from the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation.
A Ukrainian-Born Farmer Cultivating Success
Just like the people of Ukraine, Katrutsa has shown great resilience in tough times. He adapted to the hot, sticky climate of West Tennessee, which is very different from the low humidity of Ukraine. In April 2024, two days after returning from one of his Ukrainian relief missions, a hailstorm destroyed his strawberry fields, shutting down the popular U-pick operation, at least temporarily.
See more: 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Growing Tomatoes
Still, Katrutsa has found a way to not only survive, but thrive. He supplies a handful of restaurants with fresh salad ingredients and participates in a grant program with Second Harvest Food Bank to feed hungry residents in surrounding counties. In 2024, he opened a freestanding retail store on the property. He now sells most of his produce at the farm store, which attracts customers from as far as Nashville and Memphis.
“I never did think it was going to do this well, but by doing the retail on-farm sales, I’ve watched my income go up by 50%, and I don’t have to travel as far to farmers markets,” he says. “Everything I get, I sell out.”
Mike’s Produce is Growing the American Dream
The storefront also provides a place to interact with customers and share his own American dream story.
“I’m communicating with them and telling them about what I do and why I’m passionate about it,” he says. “I want people, especially kids, to know that their food doesn’t magically appear on the grocery store shelf, that somebody actually grows it.”
Despite the ups and downs of farming, he has no regrets.
“I definitely would do it all over again,” he says. “It gets in your blood.”