Gedney, it’s the local pickle

With plans for a July harvest, “Community Garden” pickles should hit the marketplace later this summer.

Last week, officials from Gedney and AgStar Financial Services of Mankato, along with a group of “emerging farmers” met at Lions Park in Chaska. The group celebrated an agreement calling for local farmers to grow thousands of pounds of tiny, three-inch cucumbers to fill Gedney pickle jars. Gedney is located in Chanhassen, on the southeast Chaska border.

Praising the arrangement with Gedney, North Minneapolis farmer Reggie Hunter said, “It means we’re actually farmers. It’s empowering to be able to be part of the food system.”

AgStar is a financial cooperative that helps farmers with operating and equipment loans. According to Sai Thao, emerging agribusiness lending executive with AgStar, emerging farmers are “non-traditional growers (who) by themselves are small farmers, but collectively they’re able to work with large businesses like Gedney.” He differentiates these farmers from larger operations that grow corn, soybeans and grains.

Emerging or non-traditional farmers grow vegetables or keep honeybees, and traditionally sell their produce at farmers markets, he said.

“We want them to be successful,” said Sai Thao, explaining that AgStar helps with loans and vouchers through the farm credit system. He noted that emerging farmers often face barriers such as access to markets, access to capital and language barriers.

In 1879, when M.A. Gedney moved to Minnesota to start the pickle business, the company began recruiting local farmers to grow cucumbers for pickles. Now, the company buys pickling cucumbers from a broad geographic area, said Greg Niemann, vice-president of sales and marketing.

“It’s not often we connect this closely with the farmers,” said Niemann, in recognition of the full-circle moment marked by this agreement. For him, it was heart-warming to see the emerging farmers celebrating the opportunity to be able to sell their produce to a large food company.

“It’s now the Minnesota pickle again,” said Minnesota Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia), referring to the fact that from “seed to jar” locally grown cucumbers will be processed at the Gedney Foods for Community Garden pickles. Nash said he helped facilitate the AgStar and Gedney arrangement.

STEADY INCOME

“It helps my income to be more steady,” said Phenhli Chie Thao, president of the Minnesota Hmong Agriculture Co-op. He is one of two farmers from his group that signed the agreement with Gedney. Ten other farmers are the designated “emerging farmers” in the one-year partnership.

Chie Thao said his family started out selling their produce at several area farmers markets. However, produce that’s not immediately sold in the farmers markets is often tossed. The ability to sell the cucumbers to Gedney means less waste and more income stability, he said.

In addition to plots as far away as Afton, Chie Thao signed up to lease a half-acre plot next to the Gedney factory in Chanhassen at a cost of $50 for the plot, plus expenses for tilling the soil, garbage removal and a portable toilet. The costs add up, Thao said. However, he hopes they’re offset by the proximity to the pickling site. For him and the other farmers in his co-op, reliable transportation is a constant struggle in getting their produce to market.

Each of the 12 farmers has leased one of the lots within view of the large green vats next to the Gedney facility. Before now, the land, which is not owned by Gedney, was used to grow corn. Carl Tuttle, Gedney’s general manager and a fifth-generation descendant of Matthias Anderson Gedney, estimates that these 12 plots will yield about 240,000 pounds of cucumbers that could fill a half million pickle jars.

That’s just a fraction of the estimated cucumber yield in the agreement. The farmers all have other plots spread out around the entire metro area where they are growing cucumbers for Gedney along with their other crops. Niemann said that Gedney’s total estimate from the 12 farmers is approximately 700,000 pounds of cucumbers.

Chie Thao said that the farmers will be paid according to the size of the cucumbers in the crop. For optimal filling of pickle jars, cucumbers up to three inches will command the highest price. Larger ones will yield less income for the farmers. A sorting machine at Gedney will categorize the sizes.

MINNEAPOLIS

The group of 12 also includes of farmers from North Minneapolis.

“It’s one of the greatest collaborative efforts,” said Robert Woods, one of the 12 farmers. To him, the agreement represents a new level of economic development. “We can hire our friends, our neighbors and put them to work.”

“I’ve always had a passion for growing. I used to take seeds and grow them in my backyard when I was growing up,” said Hunter. He began as a gardener with kale, broccoli and tomatoes in his North Minneapolis backyard and scaled up from there.

“We hope it just catches on fire. We want to be able to pay you, the farmers, a very good amount. I hope you bring in way more than 700,000 pounds,” said Niemann.

According to Niemann, the current agreement is in place for one season, after which the company will decide its next steps. Meanwhile, Gedney continues to buy cucumbers from other growers to meet its requirements.