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In 1881, Clay Cheroni’s great-great-grandfather left his home in Faenza, Italy, settling in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, to work as a sharecropper during an agricultural boom. His family grew to include eight children, and later on, Cheroni’s grandfather eventually acquired a 10-acre farm in Copiah County with fruit trees and a garden.

For 18 years, Cheroni has honored his family’s agricultural legacy at MSU’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Truck Crops Branch in Crystal Springs. The town was dubbed the “tomato capital of the world” at the station’s founding in 1938.

As facilities coordinator, his office spans the 175-acre property, from its stunning landscape to the laboratories, greenhouses and high tunnels where horticultural research takes place.

Cheroni’s days are far from typical; he may set up research equipment, fix an irrigation system or prepare for public events.

“I enjoy hands-on work, and I like the variety of my job,” he said. “I may go into work with plans for the day, but those plans can quickly change.”

The Hazlehurst native started as a farm laborer and later took a position as a research technician. As facilities coordinator for the last six years, Cheroni has gained extensive knowledge of the station’s work. Early on, he learned of MSU’s tuition remission program, sparking his interest to advance his education.

“Back then, there were no online classes and I couldn’t travel to campus, but when technology caught up I was able to pursue my bachelor’s degree, which helped me move into my current position,” he said. “I enjoyed the classes and being able to work at my own pace.”

Growing vegetables and ornamental crops involves hard physical labor, and the faculty and staff at Truck Crops, including Cheroni, work year-round—rain or shine. Behind the station’s bountiful gardens and plants for sale to the public­, including a brilliant array of poinsettias for the holiday season, are months of sweat and toil. Among the job’s toughest challenges are Mississippi’s summer temperatures.

“Last summer, we were working on projects all over the station during a drought with heat indices over 120,” he said. “It’s important to make plans to keep everyone safe in those conditions. There’s always been a great sense of teamwork and camaraderie among our staff at Truck Crops, and that positive work environment is very important to me.”

Growing up, Cheroni never imagined that he would work in farming, but perhaps he was planted in just the right place for a thriving agricultural career.

“My father had no interest in farming, and growing up, I never considered going into the business myself. I got into it by chance,” he said. “But I remember visits to my grandfather’s farm as a little boy, and to this day, when I’m working with tomato plants, the fragrance makes me think of him.”