Talk of value-added farm opportunities usually turns to ethanol plants, pasta factories or industrial products such as strawboard. But value can be squeezed right from the land by planting high-value crops for specific markets.

For example, in southeastern Minnesota, a research farm has been crossing Chinese hazelnut trees with American varieties. The result could be a tree that not only makes a great windbreak, but produces marketable nuts. With AURI’s help, the hazelnut hybrids have been demonstrated in field trials and are being sold commercially.

“Most of these (alternative) crops aren’t going to take over soybean or wheat acres — that’s not the intent,” says Erv Oelke, director of the U of M Center for Alternative Plant and Animal Products (CAPAP). “A limited acreage crop may bring in just enough above the balance sheet to help a farmer survive.”

The biggest challenge, typically, isn’t growing or harvesting specialty crops. It’s marketing. The best way for growers to successfully market is to work cooperatively, says Brent Sorenson, manager of AURI’s Crookston field office. For example, if canola growers want to supply McDonald’s with french fry oil, they have to assure a steady supply, and that means selling their oil collectively.

There are volumes of information on specialty crops that could be adapted to Minnesota conditions, but a few of the most promising follow.

Queen of oilseeds
CANOLA

Canola gets the “most likely to succeed” award among Minnesota specialty crops. The cool-season oilseed crop may not compete with soybeans in southern Minnesota but “for the past four or five years it has saved some of those small grain producers in the (Red River) Valley,” plagued with wheat scab, Oelke says.

In a little over a decade, Minnesota canola acreage has climbed from 3,500 acres to 212,000. North Dakota acreage is also growing. Yet supply is lagging behind demand, which has increased four percent per year through the ’90s.

Canola is a rich source of heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and contains only six percent saturated fat versus soybeans’ 15 percent. Three years ago, AURI, the U of M and the state agriculture department helped growers organize a Canola Research & Promotion Council. Last year, the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $500,000 to the U of M and the canola council to develop a Canola Production Centre in rural Minnesota.

Red as rubies
CRANBERRIES

Everyone has heard of the little Massachusetts cranberry co-op started in 1930 — now called Ocean Spray — and the millions its farmer-members have made. With a cranberry craze sweeping the country, there’s room to spread the wealth around. Wisconsin has successfully challenged Massachusetts’ dominance of the cranberry market, and Minnesota is joining the fray.

Two major cranberry processors, Ocean Spray and Northland Cranberries in Wisconsin, will pay about $60 for a 100-pound barrel. Currently, there are only 37,000 acres under cultivation worldwide and fewer than 1200 producers. About five million barrels are produced annually for total sales of over $1.5 billion.

The tart ruby fruit is packed with nutrients. As research is confirming that cranberries — rich in tannins and anthocyanines — can help to cure bladder infections, the fledgling crop may gain more momentum. Over 90 percent of all cranberry products are sold in North America, and the industry would market overseas if there was enough supply.

But establishing a cranberry marsh is slow and expensive, from $20,000 to $50,000 per acre. New vines need daily irrigation until their roots establish, have frequent weed and insect problems, and take three to five years to produce marketable fruit.

Because of cranberry production’s heavy water demands, the most suitable land is wild rice paddies already diked for water. The Red Lake Band of Chippewa and other northern Minnesota growers began converting paddies to bogs last year. AURI has stepped in to help the cranberry industry by financing irrigation equipment and, together with the U of M’s CAPAP, forming a grower/researcher task force to study production issues and marketing.

Digestion aid
CHICORY

A farmer growing sugar beets should be able to grow chicory with the same harvesting equipment and growing conditions. Unlike sugar, however, chicory is considered a healing food. The inulin in chicory is a source of fructooligosaccharides, a nutrient that nourishes the healthy bacteria of the digestive system. Most chicory comes from Belgium, but field trials show it could grow as well in Minnesota.

Currently, there is no commercial chicory acreage in Minnesota, but the U of M planted five acres in various locations this summer, and AURI is testing inulin extracts from the harvest. The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative is interested, as growers could easily step into the chicory industry.

Only 360 acres would satisfy the total U.S. demand for human consumption of chicory extract, but “there’s also interest in using it for animal feed for better health,” Oelke says, adding that inulin in feed “tends to reduce manure odors.”

Hot health trends
NUTRACEUTICALS

Foods that can heal or prevent disease are not only hot in popular magazines, they’re the buzz in ag circles. Forward-looking producers realize that small acreages of medicinal crops, or “nutraceuticals,” can reap big dividends.

Some plants with medicinal claims and Minnesota-grown potential include St. John’s wort for depression, grape seed extract for inflammations, feverfew for migraines, echinacea (purple coneflower) for colds, and chamomile for stress. AURI has also examined food components that could have health benefits, such as beta glucans from barley, tocotrienols from amaranth and bifidobacteria from a dry fermented whey.

Food components that are chemically altered, such as vitamins, are subject to strict FDA scrutiny and their labels cannot make health claims. But food in pure form, such as an extract, can make health claims if validated by scientific studies.

AURI scientist Charan Wadhawan says standards for nutraceuticals are likely to tighten as medicinal use becomes more widespread. “When consumers buy an herb extract, they need to know how many grams it has, how potent it is.”

This year, AURI helped establish a research consortium, headed by CAPAP, to evaluate nutraceuticals from a variety of angles — horticulture, agronomy, nutrition, medicine, engineering and economics. The biggest challenge, Oelke says, is to get agricultural and medical researchers talking with each other.

Feelin’ their groats
BUCKWHEAT

Buckwheat, an ancient crop with a variety of uses, is also good for northern Minnesota crop rotations. It suppresses weeds, helps the soil release phosphorous, and is inexpensive to grow. Fourteen farmers have formed the Central Minnesota Buckwheat Growers co-op to promote buckwheat and find value-added uses. Buckwheat prices can range from 5 to 35 cents a pound and farmers say they need 14 to 15 cents a pound to make a reasonable profit.

Buckwheat is used in hog and chicken feed but is also found in a variety of foods, from pancake mixes to Japanese soba noodles. Cracked buckwheat groats are sold as grits, roasted groats as kasha. New to the market are lightweight buckwheat hull-filled pillows that provide firm neck support.

Seed money from the sun
SUNFLOWERS

Sunflower acreage soared in the 1970s to five million acres, due in part to low corn and soybean prices. But European competition in the early ’80s sent prices and production plummeting.

Today, with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, European countries can no longer subsidize sunflowers and have agreed to limit oilseed acreage. Fields of U.S. sunflowers — 3.3 million acres’ worth — are back on the landscape.

USDA researchers, along with private seed companies, recently developed NuSun varieties that produce a low saturated fat sunflower oil. NuSun oil has several times more oleic acid than traditional sunflower oil. Some studies suggest that eating oleic acid in a moderately low-fat diet can reduce serum cholesterol.

Sunflowers also present production advantages. The roots can reach further down than corn roots to take advantage of residual nitrogen deep in the ground. And sunflowers usually produce good yields, even in low-moisture conditions.

Old is new a-grain
ANCIENT GRAINS

With all of today’s hybrid crops, some nutritionists argue that grains eaten by our ancestors are still what our bodies need nutritionally. Some people, for example, can’t tolerate today’s high-gluten flours and are looking to grains such as tef as an alternative. Used to make a spongy bread, tef is grown almost exclusively in Africa. AURI food scientist Bill Stoll says tef likes similar growing conditions to wheat and might be suitable for Minnesota.

Amaranth is another ancient crop that peaked during Mexico’s Aztec civilization in the 1400s. Amaranth has been grown commercially since the 1980s and is an ingredient in over 40 U.S. food products. Still, demand is minuscule compared to grains like wheat and oats. One farmer planting several hundred acres of amaranth could flood the market and drastically lower prices, says a University Extension report.

Quinoa (keen-wah), the staple of the Incas, has been cherished in the Andes for 5,000 years. Besides its high lysine content, quinoa compares to dry milk in amino acids. Producers can reap from 80 cents to over a dollar per pound for raw product. Quinoa has been planted on an experimental basis in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Looking forward...

Alternative crops may come and go from the landscape. But as agricultural programs change, world markets open up, and researchers refine specialty crop recommendations, alternative crops will continue to play a small but significant role in adding value to farmers’ crops in the next millennium.