BOOSTING THEIR
BOTTOM LINE BY: KELLI SCHRAG, MKC COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Opportunities to buy agricultural products directly from farmers are commonplace in America’s rural towns. Farmers markets, roadside stands and U-Pick farms have continued to rise in popularity across the heartland, mostly due to the growing consumer interest in obtaining fresh products directly from the farm. These outlets allow consumers to learn where, how and who produced their food and enables farmers to develop a personal relationship with their customers. Across the state, MKC member-owners have capitalized on direct-to-consumer sales as a supplemental source of income, whether it be in addition to their traditional row crop operations, as a value-added product or as a seasonal commodity. GAEDDERT FARMS SWEET CORN The start of summer in central Kansas is highlighted by the distinctive green and yellow Gaeddert Farms
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sweet corn stands sprouting up in parking lots across the Wichita and Hutchinson area. The business, operated by sisters Julie Ball and Tonya Martisko, sells homegrown sweet corn and a variety of other farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. What started as a half-acre patch for extended family to pick corn has grown into a 100-acre business with 11 retail stands in seven cities, including Hutchinson, Newton, McPherson, Salina and several Wichita locations. “We grew up in the sweet corn business,” Martisko says. “Our parents have been farming for over 50 years. As kids, Julie and I, along with our cousins Jason Gaeddert and Heather Martens, would sell corn on the sidewalk in front of our grandparents’ house in Buhler. We were happy to get ten customers a day.” As the two grew, so did the business. Both graduated from Buhler High School and Bethel College in North Newton, and later would take
