Prairie Seed Producer Learned On-The-Job

Prairie Seed Producer Learned On-The-Job SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 27-4-8 Dan Allen has 2,750 acres of crop land devoted to wildflower and prairie grass seed production. He learned his business on the job because when he started 20 years ago production and processing machinery couldn't be bought and markets changed overnight. His business was prairie seed, but the lessons he learned apply to any niche marketer. "You have to be 100 percent totally committed to the idea, whatever it is," he says. "At the same time, you have to be able to totally change direction the instant the marketplace tells you to change." The Winterset, Iowa farmer has seen the marketplace change many times since he first planted a few acres to prairie grasses and wildflower in 1979. He had been looking for alternative crops for setaside acres. "Native grass seed production seemed to go hand-in-hand with the government program at the time," recalls Allen. "In 1982 we got our first crop. A few years later, when the CRP came in, the marketplace exploded. In four years, that market was gone, and people were getting out of the business." Allen survived by adapting to market needs. It is an ongoing process, he says. "It is a discovery process," says Allen. "Diversification is not an occupation, but an exercise in discovering niche markets." It's also been an exercise in learning what it takes to make each species grow, not to mention producing seed, he adds. Then there is the machinery; row crop machinery has to be adapted to shallow seeding and harvest. "We harvest a lot by hand," explains Allen. "It's hard to find and develop the right equipment to take the place of labor." Today, he and his two sons and two daughters market approximately 150,000 pounds of prairie seed per year to more than 50 to 60 companies throughout the U.S. as well as government agencies. More than 250 different species are grown and harvested each year at Allendan. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dan Allen, Allendan Seed, 1966-175th Lane, Winterset, Iowa 50273 (ph 515 462-1241; fax 515 462-4084; email: allendan @allendanseed.com).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.