By Cynthia Scott

Allan Jarchowís roots lie in a blueberry patch. The blueberries are long gone, but Jarchow is still firmly planted in the plot of earth where they once grew.

Jarchow is a lifelong resident of Chisago County. But his story has more to do with the fact that heís a lifelong resident of the farm north of Harris that first came into his family in 1895.

The farm - which was the blueberry patch when Jarchowís grandfather Magnus Johnson purchased 40 acres in 1895 for $6 an acre - is one of 75 Century Farms in Chisago County. Four of those farms belong to members of Jarchowís extended family.

ìWeíre kind of attached to the area. Weíd like to stay, but weíll see how tight development gets,î Jarchow says.

To earn the Century Farm designation, a farm must be at least 50 acres in size, be in the same family for at least 100 years, and still be in production.

That the farm is still in production is due to the fact that even at age 76, Jarchow still farms. But it has been within the past decade and a half that Jarchow has been writing a unique chapter in the history of his familyís farm: in the 1990s, after being in production for more than 50 years, Jarchow converted his farm into organic production.

He did it for the same reason he has done most things in his life: it just made sense.

Jarchow started working on the farm full time after high school in the late 1940s. He lived there with his mother, sister and grandparents - his own father had died in 1931, when Allan was two years old.

Jarchow put in a short stint on a turkey farm and then attended the University of Minnesota School of Agriculture for three months. But an accident on the farm cut his college career short.

ìWe were shredding corn in the fall of 1948 and my grandfather got his hand caught in the machine and lost part of his hand, so I stayed home. I have been farming ever since and I still am,î he recalled. So he settled into life on the farm. In 1951 he married Betty Hedberg and together they had a daughter, Carolyn.

Though his college career ended early, Jarchow had learned well at the university, and he plunged into farming armed with the latest and best training possible.

ìBeing university trained, I was one of the first to use herbicides,î Jarchow said. ìI remember one of the first herbicides I used was Eptam; the granules fell nice and neat in the rows.î

But a funny thing happened on the way to conventional farming success.

ìI began to notice there were always some plants that grew in little corkscrews,î Jarchow recalled. ìThen atrazine came out and it worked wonderful, but the crab grass liked atrazine and it grew profusely in a few years. I began to see a connection between some of the weeds, the varieties of foxtail, and the herbicides. Then it was brought to my attention that anhydrous was deleterious to the earthworms. I began to pay attention to those things.î

And so Jarchow turned his attention to an emerging, though still embryonic, practice: organic farming, which avoids the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides. He began to educate himself by reading about organics and, more importantly, talking to farmers who had switched to organics.

In the early 1990s, Jarchow became convinced that organics was the way to go.

ìThe organic market really started to take off. They were paying some nice premiums and I thought Iíd better get busy and get certified, which I did.î So, he and Betty began to make the transition.

Certification, which is done by the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) involves phasing out the use of chemicals in crop and livestock production. In Jarchowís case, the process took about 36 months. He now produces organic rye, oats, corn, soybeans and hay.

ìOrganics is not just plow and plant and harvest. You have to balance your soil with whatever it needs and use approved materials. The big challenge is weeds, it always has been. You have to be timely with the harrow, cultivator and the rotary hoe. It requires a little tighter management because youíre not relying on herbicides to do what you should have done earlier,î Jarchow says.

Jarchow has never looked back or regretted his decision to go organic. He calls organics ìthe only bright spot in farming right now.î
ìLook at prices on conventional grain versus organic. Over the years itís been at least double on most grains. Soybeans have been three times higher than conventional,î he said.

But Jarchow maintains that the most satisfying aspect of his organic operation is not the monetary rewards, but the relationships he has built with his customers. He relies primarily on direct selling, where customers buy directly from him. He began to discover the bonds he had built with his customers when Betty died suddenly 6 1/2 years ago. Cards poured in from friends and customers making reference to what he and Betty had built.

ìFour hundred cards. I couldnít believe it.

ìWhen you do direct selling you meet a bunch of really wonderful people. Iím a slave to my friends!î he said.

Jarchow has no plans to quit farming, though he allows that he pushed himself a little too hard in last summerís relentless heat and might need to slow down. His commitment to agriculture extends into the community; he sits on the Harris Planning Commission, belongs to the National Farmers Organization and is an active member of MOMS natural food co-op in Cambridge. And last February he testified before the Minnesota Senateís Health and Family Security Committee about changes in the life estate law, which would have jeopardized his ability to keep his farm in the family.

A voracious reader and observer of the world, Jarchow describes himself as ìconservative in all my ways.î

ìWaste to me is something to avoid as much as possible. In farming you can have all kinds of waste. You try to prevent waste.î
That core value is perhaps at the root of why Jarchow continues to do what he has always done: be a good steward to the plot of earth his family has always called home. To do anything else would simply be a waste.

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