As more and more consumers are interested in where their food comes from and how its produced, the number of organic farms is on the rise. A 2021 Certified Organic Survey conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) showed that there are more than 17,000 certified organic farms in the United States—a 60% increase from 2008. Minnesota ranks among the top 10 states, with 650 certified organic farms.

One of these Minnesota farms is Olson Organics, a fourth-generation family farm operated by Jonathan and Carolyn Olson. Carolyn also serves as the vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF). While much of what they grow focuses on seed development to further the organic farming industry, they are also one of four farms that provides organic corn to Phillips Distilling Company. This corn is distilled into high-proof alcohol which ultimately becomes vodka and gin for the Prairie Organic Spirits product line. It’s a partnership that has been beneficial and inspiring for both the Olsons and Prairie’s team.

Going Organic

Jonathan’s family have lived on their farm in Cottonwood, Minnesota, since his great-grandfather moved his family there in 1913, to the same house where Jonathan and Carolyn now reside. His grandfather, father and Jonathan himself were all raised on the farm, which was originally called Fairview Farm.

In the 1930s, when Jonathan’s grandfather ran the farm, he got connected to the Crop Improvement Association and started raising crops for seed for Minnesota Public Seed—a legacy that the Olsons carry on to this day.

“This farm has been connected with the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association and has been raising seed since then,” Carolyn says. “So, it's a long history of Olsons being involved in seed production and certification through the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association.”

But their focus and niche weren’t always organic seeds. Of course, back in the 1930s, farming was inherently “organic” in the sense that generally only natural materials and techniques were used in farm management. Synthetic pesticides like insecticides and herbicides weren’t widely introduced until the 1940s and beyond. But with the advent and proliferation of modern synthetic pesticides available in commercial fertilizer, many farms turned to these products to protect their crops—the Olsons included.

It wasn’t until the late 1990s that Jonathan and Carolyn started learning more about organic farming—first from the increased premiums and market opportunities available and later the environmental benefits as well. They transitioned to a fully certified organic farm over the course of the following decade. “We started with one field at that time and continued to expand until 100% of our land was certified organic,” Jonathan says.

Of course, making the transition to a fully certified organic farm wasn’t without a steep learning curve. “At first I didn't know if we could raise [organic crops],” he continues. “I hadn’t raised crops without conventional crop protection tools. But with technology, we’re able to do a pretty good job at it … We’ve had some challenges through the years, but we found out that we could do it. Even though our motivation to start with was because of the extra premium and profitability of it, we fell in love with the system, and we’ve enjoyed raising products without the extra conventional herbicides.”

Today, they raise a three-crop rotation of small grains (which includes wheat and sometimes oat and triticale), corn and soybeans. The small grains and soybeans are grown for seed, for Albert Lea Seed, an independent farm seed company.

Organic Farming 

The Olsons use a number of practices to control weeds and manage pests. Jonathan says the three-crop rotation helps with pest management and also helps break up some weed cycles. For more active weed management, they start by delaying planting and getting a “weed flush” going. “And then we do a lot of shallow tillage [on] that top half-inch of soil where the weeds are germinating or starting to grow,” he says. They also weed their fields as crops begin to grow. “We’re in our row crop fields once a week in their early life to try to rid the field of weeds and to clean them up and to stay ahead of them,” he adds.

They utilize some modern technology as well. “We have a cultivator with a camera guidance hitch,” Jonathan says. “The camera looks at the rows coming into the cultivator and it shifts it side to side. I grew up doing some cultivating, but it was all hand-steer … Cultivating with technology is way easier than it ever used to be.”

The Olsons have also developed some custom products that make their lives easier—and they work so well, they now sell some of the products. “We sell these things called ‘finger weeders’ that look like sunflowers. It’s yellow fingers on a disc that can take weeds out from within the row that other cultivators can’t reach,” Carolyn says, noting that there are several adjustments you can make to these finger weeders for additional use cases, making them very versatile.

“When I think back to what we were doing when we first transitioned to organic to how we do things now, there’s a lot of differences and there’s a lot of things we’ve learned,” she adds. “But every year there’s something that makes us wish we knew more. It’s less frustrating when you look at things as a learning opportunity rather than a failure.”

One of the other major sustainability practices they utilize on their farm are cover crops. “One-third of our acres all the time, every winter, has a cover crop on it,” Carolyn says. “We’ve been doing that for over 10 years. It helps build soil organic matter, and it helps with wind erosion in the winter.” Their utilization of buffer strips also helps with soil erosion.

They’ve also had land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for over 36 years. “It's land that isn’t good for growing crops—it’s along a ditch bank or a wetland area,” Carolyn says. The intention of this program is to cultivate plant species that will improve environmental health and quality while providing wildlife habitats. She notes that these areas of land on their farm are home to a diversity of native plants and animals, like pheasants and deer. Both their fields and the CRP land also offer environments for birds and pollinators, which in turn help control the insect population.

But the Olsons’ approach to pest and weed management, and sustainability, is ever evolving. “I think one of the things about farming, whether you’re organic or conventional, it’s just looking at how you can do things better and always wanting to be better than you were the year before—improving systems, improving timing when you can do things,” Carolyn says. “It’s important that you don’t get stagnant and that you do look and see what you can do better.”

Minnesota Made 

Since 2008, the couple has partnered with Prairie Organic Spirits to provide corn for their spirits. When Prairie launched the year prior, they were intent upon using local, organic grains in their distillation process. The Olsons got connected with Dean Phillips, who was the CEO of Phillips and Prairie at the time, and their working relationship began.

“At the time, organic was in its infancy as well, so it was kind of a novel idea for [Phillips] to make an alcohol product that is organic,” Carolyn says, noting that USDA national organic standards didn’t go into effect until 2002.

“They came out and sat at our kitchen table and we visited about organic corn and growing crops. Then it was just one of those things that kind of blossomed,” Jonathan adds. “We’ve enjoyed working with Prairie.”

All of Prairie’s vodka and gin products are distilled in Minnesota from 100% Minnesota-grown, non-GMO, certified organic corn sourced from family farms across the state. Carlos Margaria, technical director at Phillips Distilling, explains how, from the very beginning, the brand was passionate about the sustainability factor of organic certification, as well as the idea of supporting the state’s economy through a localized supply chain.

“Prairie Organic drinkers in Minnesota can be proud that we use Minnesota-grown grain, Minnesota-distilled alcohol and Minnesota-distributed spirits—the impact stays here in Minnesota, and Prairie Organic drinkers are contributing to that,” he says. “So, we improve the business for the farmers, for the co-op, for ourselves and our distributor sales force.”

And, of course, ensuring they maintain their organic certification throughout the supply chain is of the utmost importance. “The whole supply chain has to be organic certified,” Margaria says—from the seeds themselves to the farms as a whole. The farmers can’t use pesticides, and they have certain practices they must follow to maintain organic certification. Phillips also requires farmers to fill out paperwork guaranteeing that they’re following the organic program.

“There’s a whole philosophy around organic that makes it sustainable and good for you and good for the environment,” Margaria adds, noting that the Phillips Distilling plant in Princeton also purchases solar energy credits to offset the use of energy in the plant.

For Prairie, having relationships with their farmers also promotes the idea of traceability—a growing movement in the world of manufacturing and sustainability. Being able to point back to exactly where your product originates not only improves quality control and helps Prairie ensure compliance with organic standards, but it also builds personal relationships between the brand and farmers, as well as trust in the brand among customers as they gain insights into the full supply chain of the products they enjoy.

It’s been a fruitful partnership between the Olsons and Prairie over the years—and it’s also fun for the couple to point to a consumer product that they directly helped create.

“It’s a great way to talk to people that I might not normally have a conversation with if they don't think that we have anything in common,” Carolyn says. “It’s a great icebreaker.”

Farm Crafted

So, how exactly does corn become vodka and gin? And what makes Prairie’s distilling process sustainable? 

  • When farmers harvest their corn, they send it to a co-op in Central Minnesota where the corn is ground. The addition of water and enzymes ferments the corn and turns it into alcohol. From there, alcohol is separated from the grains—this is the first of several stages of distillation.
    • Sustainability Factor: As solids are eliminated, they’re collected and used for animal feed—eliminating waste of distillation byproducts. The sugars help make the alcohol, but the leftover product is rich in protein and fat, making it high-energy feed for animals.
  • After the initial distillations at the co-op, the alcohol is sent to the Phillips plant in Princeton, Minnesota, to be finished.
    • Sustainability Factor: By only shipping the grains to the co-op, and then shipping only the pure alcohol to the Phillips plant, shipping is much more efficient.
  • After arriving at the Princeton plant, small batches of the pure alcohol is distilled further into high-proof alcohol. Each batch undergoes a lab analysis and is sampled by a panel of 12 expert tasters for quality control. If it doesn’t meet the brand’s standards, the product is distilled again, and the process repeats.
    • Sustainability Factor: While many vodka brands tout how many distillations their spirit undergoes to prove its purity, Prairie takes a different approach. Rather than distilling a certain number of times, they distill the product to the right taste. This avoids wasting an extra distillation—which uses extra water and energy—if it’s not needed.
  • Once all the taste and quality parameters are met and the product matches the regulations, the high-proof alcohol is used to make Prairie’s gin, vodka and flavored vodkas spirits. From there, they’re bottled and ultimately sent to market.