Minnesota farmer explores perennial crops along with consulting, teaching.
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Ben Penner is an organic grain farmer in Minnesota. His energy for his job is indefatigable, as is the case with most farmers. There is, however, an extra level of determination within Ben, instilled by the conundrums particular to being on the front end of the wave of small-scale grain farming in a community.
Like milk and meat, grains need layers of processing to get to market. Yet flour doesn’t command a high return, so grain entrepreneurs are less likely to invest in the necessary storage, milling and bagging equipment that's required.
“I think about infrastructure a lot,” said Ben in a recent interview as he helped his daughter get ready for online school. He has Kansas roots and is familiar with grain farming at a large scale; the puzzle of infrastructure has been on his mind since he began farming in Minnesota in 2009.
The pandemic really highlighted the weaknesses of his situation: his business wasn’t able to take full advantage of the opportunity for flour sales during the pandemic because his supply chain, stretched as it is, couldn’t stretch further to fit. (The mill that grinds his grain and bags his flour is 400 miles away and he wasn’t able to get more processing done when demand exploded.)
In pursuit of solutions, he has lots of conversations and collaborations. One key thinking partner is his friend and colleague Montana Rasmussen, the proprietor of River Rock Kitchen & Baking Company in St. Peter, Minnesota. The two have thought of putting a mill in her bakery or developing a grain hub nearby so that more farmers can plug into the grain economy profitably. They’ve applied for grants, but haven’t received any funding yet; they still hope to find investors or financing for this community development effort.
“We need a scale-appropriate model that can foster entrepreneurship, a model that can grow to suit community needs as we get different crops on the landscape,” said Ben, referring to crops beyond corn/soy, but also perennials. He has 34 acres of Kernza® in the ground, and is Vice President of the Perennial Promise Growers Cooperative, an in-development cooperative market effort for perennial staples, including grains.
The Cooperative has its roots in a gathering of farmers convened by the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative to talk about perennial crops. As research on perennials expands and consumer curiosity explodes, farmers see the necessity of working together to take full advantage of this opportunity. Now, the group of about 50 growers in the Upper Midwest are figuring out how to meet the interest in Kernza and other perennials, like hazelnuts, flax, camelina, and more. This marketing cooperative is structuring itself to connect growers with buyers, and also provide expertise, agronomic information and infrastructure for perennial crops.
Besides working on these projects, teaching a course at Gustavus Adolphus College, running a consulting business, and actively farming (!), Ben is seeking more land to keep up with demand. Working rented land is a big challenge in an area with such price pressure as the Midwest, so if anyone has any leads, let him know!
Right now his crops look good, though he says they could use a little bit more snow cover. In addition to the Kernza, Ben has Turkey Red winter wheat in the ground, and rye that will head to Bakersfield Flour and Bread. He will plant 15 acres of spring wheat, and is excited to add three new Minnesota schools to his customer list this year. Ben delivers his flour all over the state, and you can find it at co-ops, including St. Peter, Just Food, Valley Natural Foods, and People's in Rochester. His grain has been used by Doughp Creations and River Rock Kitchen & Baking Co. to make Neighbor Loaves in 2020, and his farm also recently became a Certified B Corp.
Follow the links below for his updates.
