How one Minnesota farmer is growing her produce business thanks to a farm stand

From weather worries to harvest headaches, growing a produce business is tough work for Minnesota farmers. 

For Emily Louwagie, fall is a busy season. She's working to grow a crop and also working to get the produce into the hands of customers. 

What started seven years ago with about an acre of sweet corn has grown into 100 acres of corn, along with pumpkins, tomatoes, and other crops.

And the way she sells much of it at Peppa & Poppy's Market has grown too. This year, Louwagie has 16 locations, including in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Battle Lake and Glenwood. 

Many of them are self-serve corn stands. The two in Alexandria are staffed and offer a wide variety of produce.

Direct sales help Louwagie's bottom line.

A recent University of Minnesota study found farm stands may increase farmers' margin by nearly 50% compared with other sale channels.

"Overall, my prices are cheaper because I'm not having to ship them out," Louwagie said. 

But farming still comes with plenty of costs and uncertainty. This growing season brought drought and heat, forcing her to adjust the timing of plantings and worry about her crops.

"It was a struggle. It was the drought really. We were worried that the pumpkins weren't gonna do well, but they've done really great. We have one patch that didn't do as good where it was dry on the hill," she said. 

Balancing the weather is only part part of the job.

"Being able to grow the crops one deal, but then getting it out of the field, you pay enough people and have enough help," she said.

Luckily, Louwagie keeps a sense of humor around the chaos.

It makes sense, considering where she got the market's name.

"Peppa and Poppy's are actually my pig's names. I also have Porky, Paddington, and Pickles," she said. "We acquired two pigs down on a vacation in Florida and brought them home in the middle of the winter."

Louwagie recalled sneaking them into hotels by pretending they were puppies.

"They squealed all the way through the lobby. And we we pulled it off," she said. 

Peppa & Poppy's Market is one of more than 100 farm stands in Minnesota.