News
A Sweet Harvest
by Mark Parker
Growth on the Duane Heck family farm near Westphalia, Kan., could be better measured in ears than acres. The Hecks have used sweet corn and other garden crops to expand their operation’s intensity and increase cash flow.
“We started raising sweet corn about 20 years ago for a little extra income,” Duane explains. “We began with one acre and as our family grew up, so did our sweet corn.”
The family includes Duane’s wife, Ralene, and their children: son Ashton, 23; daughter Kimra Bowman, 21; and daughter Janae, 14. And the sweet corn operation? Well, that’s grown up, too, and now encompasses 45 acres as well as stretching out to include tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes and other garden fresh treats.
Frontier Farm Credit has been a partner in that growth ever since the beginning, Duane says. “We financed the farm through Frontier Farm Credit in 1986, and I’ve seen no reason to go elsewhere for credit since that time. It definitely matters to work with people like Rick (Baldwin-based Frontier Farm Credit Financial Services Officer Rick Kuhle) who have an understanding of agriculture — especially as we’ve become more capital intensive on the garden crop acres.”
The garden crops are labor intensive as well as capital intensive. The production goal of the enterprise, Duane explains, is to always have fresh produce for customers. That means getting an early start in the operation’s two greenhouses. One is filled with tomato plants but the other gives the Hecks a jump on the sweet corn market with 130,000 sweet corn plants that are later “replanted” outdoors on about 6.5 acres. Two people ride a mechanized transplanter, feeding the seedlings into the unit that places them in the soil. The greenhouse speeds up development by 2-3 weeks and spreads out the workload for the family. By using staggered plantings — generally every week from March 20 to June 15 — the Hecks will have fresh sweet corn to sell from mid-June until early October. Using different maturities enables them to adjust to weather issues.
A portion of the garden crops go into plastic-covered beds with drip tape underneath while the rest are under pivot irrigation. Extra help is hired in the summertime as a dozen or so young people from the community lend a hand, particularly for harvest.
“We like to be able to provide some employment for kids,” Duane says. “It’s pretty labor intensive but we get some pretty good kids to help and I think their parents appreciate them having the opportunity to earn a little extra money.”
The corn will be sold, along with other vegetables, during a dizzying schedule that finds family members at roadside stands and farmer’s markets Tuesday through Friday in Garnett, Iola, Burlington, Ottawa, and Emporia.
And on Saturday, they travel to the huge Kansas City Farmer’s Market where more than 10,000 customers show up each week. The family usually has four booths at Kansas City and sells about 1,000 dozen-ear packs — that’s the equivalent of about four pickup loads.
“People seem to really appreciate fresh, locally-grown produce,” Duane notes. “We try to listen to our customers and learn what they want. We try to have a very clean product — I can tell you that worms are a pretty big thing with city people.”
With 1,000 acres of more traditional row crops, the Hecks have some serious time management issues but Duane says the melons, sweet corn and tomatoes fit in with the row crops fairly well because most of the marketing takes place during the summer. “Fall,” he admits, “can get pretty hectic.”
This year, the Hecks have added green beans, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. In addition to time and labor challenges, Duane admits that the learning curve can also be fairly steep. “Learning is continuous,” he says. “We spend a lot of time during the winter gathering information. There’s a three-day fruit and vegetable expo we attend in Grand Rapids, Mich., and another good one in St. Joseph, Mo. And we talk to the other vendors at farmer’s markets and learn from each other.”
Because of the high value and high input costs of vegetable farming, the risk is considerable. The Hecks use hail insurance but, because of crop value, face coverage limitations. “The main risk, though, is lack of moisture so having the ability to irrigate is our main insurance.”
Frontier Farm Credit has also been able to play a role in bringing the next generation into the operation. Twenty-three year old Ashton has utilized Frontier’s AgStart lending program for young and beginning farmers. It’s enabled him to be a partner in the vegetable operation as well as expanding his own row-cropping enterprise.
Expansion, the Heck family has found, doesn’t necessarily mean more acres. Relying on their own hard work and knowledge, along with some assistance from Frontier Farm Credit, Duane Heck and his family have grown their operation right off their Anderson County farm and onto the dinner plates of thousands of consumers.
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