Organic farmers finding success in Grundy County

Trends in skin care, health care and food choices have made a shift to natural or organic due to high demands by consumers searching for a healthier lifestyle.

Victoria Wax, manager at the Grundy County Farm Bureau, said there are 218 certified organic farms in Illinois and in 2015, they produced on a total of 33,605 acres. Nationally, more than 5 million acres are used to raise organic grain, livestock, fruit, nuts and more. According to the 2012 Census, Grundy County has one United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Nation Organic Program certified farm in production, Wax said.

There are farms in Grundy County that offer their goods, either certified organic or that use organic practices (but are not certified), in the hope of sharing what they know about food raised without chemicals.

Brian Severson Farms Inc. in Dwight offers USDA organic frozen corn on the cob, hulless oats, wheat berries and heirloom popcorn. Severson sells his products online as well as in markets in Chicago.

Severson said he began to grow these organic products in 2004 when his children were involved in the farm and he did not want them around the chemicals. He said he has never used GMO products since he doesn’t like they way they were introduced.

He said he sells a lot of his organic products in Chicago and online due to the high demand in the urban areas.

“I don’t see people around here asking a lot for organic, but, up north, people ask for it and there is a high demand in Chicago and St. Louis,” Severson said.

He said his direct market has grown now that his name has been out in the marketplace and has seen movement of his organic grains. He began with organic vegetables and meat, but the organic grains have taken off due to high demand and low availability.

Creekside Natural Farm in Minooka uses organic practices but has not filed for the organic certified label. Owners Pam and Bill Kunke have turned a portion of Bill’s family farm into an area where they grow vegetables, raise chickens and alpacas, house bees and sunflower fields, as well as hothouses.

Pam and Bill began to garden naturally for their consumption, but when friends asked whether the products were for sale, it turned into a roadside stand, open most of the year, where people can pay as they pick up their freshly picked produce and eggs and chickens upon request. They now have a once-a-month market day where they offer homemade soaps made from goats milk, honey and oils, as well as honey from bees in their fields.

When Pam gets asked why she chooses to farm her food in a natural manner, her answer is always, “ I prefer my food without a side of poison.”

For pest control, she feels that if she gets it under control in the beginning and keeps up with the demand, her crops thrive. When needed, she uses an organic spray that does not harm lady bugs or bees or she will use soapy water and knock the bugs off of the plants. For her vine crops, she fertilizes with liquid seaweed and if she can keep the plant growing fast enough, nature takes care of the issues.

She said if things go awry, she will take the harvest as is and then replant and have veggies later on in the fall from her second planting.

South of Morris, Brian and JoAnne Leber run Bray Grove Farm which also does not hold the certified organic label, but the pair run their farm in an old-fashioned manner with organic practices to take care of the soil and offer heirloom vegetables from 100 years ago.

In order to keep the ground healthy, Brian practices low-impact tillage, crop rotation and cover crops. To minimize fossil fuels, Brian uses his team of Belgian Draft Mules to till the soil and uses the waste as fertilizer.

“I love to work the mules, smell the soil and hear the birds,” Brian said. “The earth is a fragile place.”

Bray Grove Farms offers its customers a chance to be a part of its Community Supported Agriculture farm (CSA), where they buy into the farm and receive produce for 20 weeks.

They offer a variety of old heirlooms because, “they need to be preserved because there are so many interesting varieties with unique characteristics at risk at being lost,” Brian said.

Pest control for Bray Grove Farms includes letting nature take its course. Brian said humans usually upset the mix of nature. Several times, he has noticed a pest issue and, within days, a natural method such as a predator of that pest has taken care of the problem without harm to the produce.
 
Brian Severson Farms
8430 S. Dwight Road
Dwight
Bseverson.com
 
Creekside Natural Farm
1221 W. Bell Road
Minooka
Creeksidenaturalfarm.com
 
Bray Grove Farm
Morris
Braygrovefarm.com