Yesterday in Midwest Entrepreneurs class we had our second “farmer as entrepreneur” guest speaker in a row; Dusty Spurgeon co-owner of Galesburg, IL-based Spurgeon Veggies. However, this “farmer as entrepreneur” is about as different as possible as last Thursday’s guest Paul Rickey. Dusty, as can be seen at the links below, runs a small-scale, highly specialized Community Supported Ag (CSA) firm while Mr. Rickey is a more conventional, larger-scale farmer producing basic commodity crops.

http://spurgeonveggies.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SpurgeonVeggies/

While the students witnessed discussion of the great differences between Dusty Spurgeon and conventional farmers such as Paul Rickey, they also heard that both are entrepreneurs running their respective businesses in the face of the some of the same risks (e.g., unpredictable weather, fluctuating seed and other material prices, and dynamic market demand).

Below, Midwest Entrepreneurs class member J.T. Seeley tells the story of Dusty Spurgeon and the ongoing growth of Spurgeon Veggies.

Prof. Gabel

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Seven years ago Dusty Spurgeon graduated from Monmouth College with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. After taking a class called “Food for Thought” here, she got interested in the food industry and started to watch what she ate. She became particularly concerned about where the food she was eating was coming from.

Shortly after graduation, Dusty moved to Galesburg. Then Dusty’s mother-in-law sparked her interest in ag-related entrepreneurship when she asked her to join her in setting up a booth at the local farmers’ market to sell produce. About a year later, Dusty was formally involved in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) business.

Dusty started working with her mother-in-law in the business and got to know the ins and outs of the CSA. Even though Dusty wanted to stay away from school she sure did learn a lot in the few years that she has been with Spurgeon Veggies. Upon starting she knew little about gardening or farming and did not even consider the business to be a business. She mostly taught herself the way of the field. She not only taught herself farming but since becoming a co-owner she has had to learn marketing, bookkeeping, mechanics, and even small engine repair in order to run the business and make progress towards the future they hope to achieve.

Spurgeon Veggies is a unique business, very different from what we heard about from last week’s speaker Paul Rickey. Mr. Rickey is a more conventional farmer who grows corn and soy beans for sale. Spurgeon Veggies works not only with CSA but also has a spot at the Galesburg Farmers Market in order to sell their goods. Their goods consist mostly of vegetables, some fruits, and also eggs (that sell year round). One of their greatest advantages in the market and what sets them apart is the wide variety of specialized vegetables that they have. Their variety goes above and beyond what you can find in the supermarket, whether it be different kinds of vegetables or even the difference in the colors of those vegetables. Another advantage they have is that they try to limit the amount of pesticides used by incorporating other things such as rotating crops every year, self-composting, and using row covers. These advantages help them be successful in the Galesburg area and also to manage risk.

The future of Spurgeon Veggies looks bright. They have currently slowed expansion right now because they look at moving to a new location in the next couple of months to allow them more space. They are also looking to expand their CSA size along with increasing their capabilities of doing winter shares with investments in high tunnels and greenhouses. Another possibility is adding more meat to their products by adding more chickens or even getting hogs. One last look to the future would be to purchase another stand at the farmers market which the recent investment of a fridge trailer would allow them to do. The future looks bright for this company and its expansion.

Lastly, a special thank you to Dusty Spurgeon—and her mother—for coming and sharing the knowledge you have acquired with us!

J.T. Seeley