World Market for Organic Crops

Robin Brekken of Crookston, Minnesota grows his farm by concepts rather than acres. Together with Lynn Brakke and other partners in Earthwise Foods and Earthwise Processors, Robin is placing his bet on the future of identity-preserved, non-GMO and organic crops. For now, a small retail package of roasted soy nuts is the most tangible manifestation of those concepts, but the package points to a larger vision — the world market for organic and identity-preserved grain.

“It’s no secret that commodity prices kind of stink,” Robin says. “My farm was big into sugar beets, and the economies of that business have tailed off in the last few years.” Instead of expanding his 3,000 acre farm to 5,000 or 6,000 acres — an option he once viewed as necessary just to keep up financially — Robin sees Earthwise as a way to improve his family’s quality of life while farming the same acreage. “My farm is in transition to be organic, which will happen next summer,” he says. “It’s not all about money, either. I’m not necessarily a full-fledged tree hugger, but I don’t miss all the spraying and chemicals. … Health was not a main factor, but it was a small one.”

Value-added Products

While Earthwise Foods markets roasted soybean snacks under their own brand, the recent purchase of the former Busch Agricultural Resources plant in Moorhead, Minnesota allows Earthwise Processors to handle:

* soybeans,
* organic popcorn,
* flax,
* wheat and
* other grains

in identity-preserved lots.

The partners plan to continue retailing their own products, but they also see a niche in supplying identity-preserved beans, flour and other ingredients for big-time buyers, according to Moorhead investor and organic farmer Lynn Brakke. With few big elevators able to supply identity-preserved, contamination-free ag products, Lynn believes Earthwise is in the right place at the right time. “Identity-preserved is going to be virtually all of the U.S. production eventually, I believe. … Commodity-based agriculture is going to be Third World,” Lynn says. “Here in the United States, it’s going to be value-added. The average elevator is not equipped to handle it.”

Above and Beyond

The growing demand for non-GMO crops will help Earthwise business, Lynn adds. “No GMO crops will go through the facility, because of (the potential for) contamination.” With recently adopted federal guidelines for organic crops, Earthwise can only stand to benefit, adds Michael Sparby, AURI project director in Morris, Minnesota. Its standards are “above and beyond the USDA organic standards. The rest of the industry is catching up to what Earthwise is doing.”

Earthwise Foods markets four soybean snack flavors: roasted no-salt, roasted and salted, barbecue and honey-roasted. Ranch and hot-and-spicy flavors will be added soon, according to partner Curt Petrich of Crookston, Minnesota. Packaged in Crookston, most product is shipped to the East and West coasts, but the company is actively pursuing markets in Europe and Australia. “This market has a potential to grow a lot,” Curt says. “It’s similar to the sunflower industry. It can hold its own. A company that wants to focus on a single commodity may do well with the soybean.”

Earthwise snacks have received “excellent response” at retail stores and trade shows, Curt adds. “We have 12 to 15 medium to large customers (retailers), and we just picked up our first distributor.” The soybean snacks are popular in health food stores and vending machines, and Earthwise’s packaging and quality have been “very well accepted. … We don’t take a back seat to anybody in the quality of our product or packaging.”

Organic Niche

Lynn, who says he saw the niche for organic crops 10 years ago, values his organic operation for its answers to the “sustainability, economic and health concerns that go along with farming conventionally. I like the challenge, because it’s definitely a higher management situation. Our goal is to vertically integrate, where everything we grow on the farm we would take to retail, to take as much value as we could out of what we were producing. Purchasing the plant was a big step.” For Lynn, Earthwise means more than a package of soy snacks or even a way to make a living. “The ultimate goal is to have a business that would be sustainable enough to be here for several generations.”