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- IDFTA President a Well-known Illinois Marketer
- By Greg Brown
Associate Editor
- The new president of the International Dwarf Fruit Tree Association (IDFTA), Ken Hall, raises apples on a third-generation fruit farm and farm market in Illinois.
Ken and Barb Hall have continued the farm market that was started by her father on her grandfather’s former dairy. Their operation, Edwards Orchard, in Poplar Grove, Ill., has a rich history with its customers.
Edwards Orchard originated in 1964, when Robert Edwards Jr. planted the first commercial semi-dwarf apple orchard in the area.
“Boone County was all corn and soybeans and alfalfa prior to his starting the orchard,” said Hall. “His neighbors thought he was pretty crazy when he planted apples in the heart of corn and soybean country.”
But, he had his reasons. As manager of the National Peach Council he had traveled around the country and saw a wide variety of production areas for fresh fruit. He had also worked as secretary of the Illinois Horticultural Society, as manager of the Illinois Fruit Council and as a vocational agriculture teacher.
Edwards’ careers prompted him to explore the opportunities in agriculture. Hall said his father-in-law’s interests were piqued when he met other Illinois fruit growers, including Curt Eckert of Bellville, Ill. and John Bell of Barrington, Ill. Edwards had grown up on a dairy farm and when he came back to the farm it wasn’t long till the cows made way for apple trees and a variety of other produce.
When Ken and Barb returned to the farm, they had both already had successful careers. Barb had previously worked as a high school and community college biology and chemistry teacher. Ken had been an Iowa State University Extension agronomist working mainly with corn, soybean and alfalfa growers.
“We’ve kept the acreage relatively close to what it was back in 1984 when we moved back to the farm,” said Hall.
Today, the operation they took still has 42 acres of apples. The density is around 500-600 trees per acre. The density of trees per acre has been increased over the years, from 180 trees per acre to between 550 and 600 trees per acres.
Hall said that the 1,500-2,500 trees-per-acre systems that some members of IDFTA have on their farms doesn’t fit the growing conditions of northern Illinois, with its rich prairie soils and 35 inches of annual rainfall.
“We are not in central British Colombia, where they have only five to six inches of rainfall,” said Hall. “Their growth is not what we see in the Midwest and they are producing apples on very expensive farm land valued more than $20,000 per acre. We are on farmland priced at $2,800-3,500 per acre, so we don’t have to push trees closer and closer together in an attempt to get earlier production and quicker returns.”
The market provides another reason not to pack the trees in. The u-pick portion of the market continues to get the public out in the orchard. Some u-pick customers still prefer the experience of picking fruit from something that looks like the apple trees of their childhood rather than the tiny trees of today’s super spindle systems.
The majority of IDFTA members are not roadside marketers, said Hall. Many of them wholesale fruit. Edwards Orchard sells around half of its fruit through its u-pick, with the majority of the rest being sold retail through the market.
“We have mixed allegiance as far as organizations go,” said Hall. His father-in-law also served on the IDFTA board, and the operation has benefited from their involvement in the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA).
“IDFTA has helped us with the fruit production part of the business, while NAFDMA has helped us with ideas on how to diversify our farm market. We wanted to be a place where families can come for a traditional experience on the farm,” said Hall. “We still use wooden baskets for pick your own apples. We see customers who have a date on the bushel basket, and share it with us every time they come.”
Hall’s family knows about traditions. “We have a Christmas tree farm that we go to with our kids every year,” said Hall. “We’ve found that our daughters still want to be home from college to do that with us as a family.”
The Halls see that same excitement about heir operation in families that arrive with custom t-shirts that read “Edwards Orchard Reunion 2002.” As it turns out, that family had planned their family reunion at the farm.
“We try to concentrate on being the traditional visit to the farm that people make annually,” said Hall. “We do some things that are more entertainment oriented, like having a live bluegrass band on weekends, and there are farm animals but we do not charge admission.
“We’ve made a decision not to recruit tour busses,” said Hall. “We’ve also made a decision not to not to sell pop here.” The refreshments available are more traditional for a Midwestern farm: lemonade or milk or cider.
“We try to be something that is authentic,” said Hall. “We try to stick to our agricultural heritage - we really do grow the crops here and we really are farmers.”
Their orchard and farm market is a seasonal business open to the public from Sept. 1 through Thanksgiving weekend. They are located about 70 miles from the outskirts of Chicago.
Their successful sales mix includes fresh apples, gift merchandise, as well as cider donuts and apple cider.
Edwards Orchard serves between 225,000 and 250,000 people in their short season. The business employs four people full-time besides Ken and Barb. But during the season, they hire around 200 part-time people - some who might work just a couple of weekends. Part-time employees include students, senior citizens, friends and family members.
Barb’s parents, Bob and Betty Edwards, still help out, especially during the busy harvest season. The Hall’s daughters and son help out on the farm during the summer and on weekends in the fall. Danny is a sophomore in high school and Audrey is attending the University of Illinois (U of I). Oldest daughter, Kara, recently graduated from U of I and is making plans for a wedding on the farm in June.
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