The family farm was passed on to John in 1974. He raised livestock and grain crops. In 1989, John and his brother experimented growing some giant pumpkins. The growing season was successful, and John began to expand into winter squash. From there on, the wholesalers/food service accounts in the Twin Cities started to demand other commodities to be grown, which led to the expansion of the vegetables that Vine Valley grows today.

Today, Vine Valley is operated by John and Wendy Tanata, and their sons Josh, Adam, and Anthony. Each member respectively has their own duty on the operation from managing the crops, to training employees on harvesting/packing techniques to logistics.

Currently, Vine Valley raises about 160 acres of vegetables, ranging from green zucchini, yellow summer squash, slicing/pickling cucumbers, green beans, red/gold beets, bell peppers, red/green cabbage, Taiwan cabbage, yellow onions, and winter squash.

Over the years, Vine Valley Farms has adopted some advances in technology, but still practices many traditional farming techniques. When John started the farm, row crop cultivation was popular in the 90’s for weed control. To this day, John and his son still heavily use row crop cultivation and the rotary hoe for weed control. They also have been practicing sustainable farming techniques by planting cover crops and using vertical tillage to prevent soil erosion. The development of new implements and GPS over the years has changed the ways the family farms.