Blake Kerns

This lowa farmer turned a sweet corn stand into a booming business.

- By Lisa Foust Prater Executive Editor, Family & Rural Issues [e-mail]

Blake Kerns started growing sweet corn in high school, partnering with friends to rent an acre and a half of oddly shaped ground from his dad on the family's farm near Oelwein in northeast Iowa. While studying management and entrepreneurship at the University of Iowa, he worked in the produce section of a grocery store, which provided an outlet to sell his product and allowed him to learn about the business.

Today, Kerns farms 2,300 acres, including 100 acres of sweet corn, 30 acres of green beans, and raspberries grown in a high tunnel. Kerns Homegrown Produce is sold at stands and grocery stores throughout the Midwest and beyond.

SF: What was your first summer growing sweet corn like?

BK: The land was down by a creek, and the raccoons ate probably half of our corn, so we sold what was left over. I don't think we made a dime if you actually add up any of our time or anything. But we were borrowing a planter, borrowing a tractor, and handpicking it, so there wasn't a whole lot of cost. We had fun with that for a couple of years, sophomore and junior year of high school.