PERHAM, MN – Her voice resonates excitement talking about her life on the farm in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” A sixth-generation farmer from Ohio, Kris Huebsch had no idea attending Montana State University would lead to her finding her soulmate, Cordell Huebsch.
Cordell graduated before Kris and returned to his family farm in Minnesota where he helped grow corn and kidney beans. Once Kris graduated, she moved to Minnesota and the couple was married. Kris spent six years as a 4-H agent and coordinated the local county fair.
The Huebsch duo did their research, considered many factors such as soil type, acreage needed and market appeal, and decided to plant strawberries. They planted their first crop in 2016.
“It takes one year for strawberries to start producing so we did not open our doors to the public until the summer of 2017,” Kris explained. “After several weather events that damaged our first strawberry crops, we decided to diversify the farm a bit and opened a corn maze and pumpkin patch in the fall of 2018.”
Coming up with a name for their new venture was not easy. “It took us forever to come up with a name,” she said. “We had quite a long list. We live in Otter Tail County. There’s also an Otter Tail River so we decided on Otter Berry Farm. What we didn’t anticipate were people thinking we produced ‘otter berries,’ a new type of berry. Eventually, they figured it out, but it was funny.”
Otter Berry Farm was founded on Cordell’s family’s century-old farm that was homesteaded by his ancestors in the 1800s. Many of the outbuildings are turn-of-the-century and built by his great-grandfather.
Beginning an agritourism business seemed like a great fit that would allow Kris to stay home and work on the farm while raising their two daughters, Klara and Isabel. “Today, the girls are 14 and 12 and are extremely helpful on the farm,” she said. “I always joke that they could run the place without us. They’ve been helping since we opened and they were toddlers. They’ve watched us grow and have been able to follow along in all aspects of running the farm. I don’t know what I would do without their help.”
Their farm is located in a unique area in central Minnesota. “It’s rural, but there is a lot of tourism due to the lakes in the area,” Kris said. “We end up with lots of folks who are seasonal who come out to the farm in the summer and then stop by again in the fall when they are closing up their cabins for the winter. There aren’t very many strawberry farms around anymore so that also attracts customers, some driving two to three hours to get to the farm to pick strawberries.”
The farm comprises 80 total acres, some of which is wooded and wetlands. There are 25 tillable acres for crop production. Currently, they have six acres in strawberries, one acre in raspberries and five acres of pumpkins. The corn maze is seven acres.
“Our farm is primarily a U-pick strawberry farm with about 10% being pre-picked strawberries,” Kris said. “We’ve had as many as 10 acres of strawberries in production.”
Growing strawberries can be labor intensive. Strawberry plants are only productive for about three years. The Huebsch family plants one to four acres of strawberries every year, since some of the patches cycle out of production.
“This year we planted 15,000 strawberry plants,” Kris explained. “As the plants start to flower that first year, we go out and hand cut all of them off. About 30,000 were cut this last spring on our new plants. That encourages more runners to grow, which makes more plants and flowers for next year, which means more strawberries.”
During years 3, 4 or 5, the strawberry patch is plowed under and a cover crop is planted. The farm focuses on rotating crops; after the cover crop is plowed under, they plant pumpkins and eventually strawberries again.
An aeriel shot takes in all of the fun during the fall at the farm – including the Otter Tail County-themed corn maze. Photo courtesy of Otter Berry Farm
Kris and Cordell said the best part of their agricultural business is seeing families come to the farm and experience agriculture up close and personal. “Many kids and parents have never experienced farm life,” Kris said. “Today, most families are generations removed from where their food comes from. When families visit Otter Berry Farm, they touch farm animals and get to pick strawberries. They take a bite of a strawberry and it’s flavorful and juicy and runs down their chin. I see the wonder in their eyes.”
The Huebsch family admits there are challenges as well. Kris said, “One weather event can completely ruin a crop. Just this year, we’ve had terrible weather events.”
Updating the public daily with berry picking hours is also a challenge. “It’s important that our website and Facebook page are up to date with hours,” she said. “Some days we may have to close early due to weather, special events or limited strawberries.”
Otter Berry Farm founders pride themselves on being family owned and operated with no full-time staff. They do hire 30 seasonal employees that work various times during the year.
To maintain a family-fun atmosphere, every year the Huebsches add an activity or event to attract more visitors. “This year we added a paintball gallery where visitors go through shooting at targets,” Kris said. “Last year we added a tree glider ride that is similar to a zip line.”
They also enjoy hosting special events like their adult-only corn maze night with live music and cash bar; a grandparents day; and special private and corporate events.
Since they’re in a very rural area, they have lots of community support. There are nine business owners in nearby towns stepping up as sponsors. The sponsors get exposure with their logos and names on the Otter Berry Farm website and Facebook pages. In return, the sponsors receive corn maze tickets.
Beyond diversifying with the corn maze and pumpkin patch, Kris and Cordell purchased a bare-root plant business two winters ago named fROOTz, a wholesale company that provides rootstock and potted blueberries to growers in the upper Midwest, from large commercial farms to backyard gardeners.
“All the rootstock arrives to our warehouse and stays cold and dormant until our customers are ready to plant them anytime between April and the beginning of June,” Kris said. “It is an online and catalog model where you pre-order what you need and then let us know when you want it delivered.”
As Otter Berry Farm continues to evolve there’s no doubt it will remain a staple in the community offering summer and autumn fun for thousands of families. Strawberry season ended in July, but August welcomed raspberry season which goes through the first hard frost. The autumn season with the corn maze and pumpkin patch officially kicked off Sept. 13.
Otter Berry Farm is open every weekend through Oct. 26. For more details visit otterberryfarm.com or check them out on Facebook or Instagram @otterberryfarm. For the plant business details, go to FrootzNow.com.
by Rebecca Long Chaney
