Pulaski Co. Farm Switches from Seed Corn to Popcorn
Published: Friday, July 29, 2022
A Northwest Indiana family with deep roots in agriculture has gone from raising corn and grinding it into flour to producing food eaten in places like movie theatres.
Gutwein Popcorn in Francesville is among the farms to be featured during the Indiana State Fair from July 29 to Aug. 21.
Owner Harvey Gutwein Jr. said he plans to give fairgoers a glimpse of what it takes to be a successful farmer.
"You have to have a desire to work pretty hard and do what needs done when it needs done," he said.
He said farmers also must have marketing skills to help establish a good customer base for their products.
About 50 million pounds of popcorn are grown annually on the 9,000-acre farm in Pulaski County.
Gutwein said most of his popcorn is distributed to packers who place the kernels into various containers before distributed and sold under different brands.
Some of his kernels are popped in movie theatres and high school sporting events in the area.
One of his customers is the Indianapolis Colts.
The rest of his kernels are used in his own Gutwein Popcorn brand available online, local retail stores and a small gift shop at the farm.
His sales are predominantly in the U.S. and Asia.
Gutwein is scheduled to engage with fairgoers about his operation on Aug. 8.
His great grandfather, Philip, began raising and milling corn into flour in 1906 after coming to the U.S. and settling in Francesville.
His grandfather, Fred, and father, Harvey, switched to seed corn on the farm in 1936 when they founded Gutwein Hybrids.
In 1998, Gutwein, needing a change from seed corn, planted his first popcorn crop on just a few hundred acres.
He said the rest of his family later dropped out of farming, which opened up more land for him to expand his popcorn production as he added more customers.
"I think once we got the reputation of growing top quality popcorn that helped us," he said.
He raises butterfly, mushroom and white popcorn.
Butterfly popcorn, which has what looks like wings after popped, is found in products like microwave brands.
Mushroom popcorn, more round after popping, is used in snacks like Cracker Jack.
Gutwein said he's often asked what he does to the kernels to make them pop then explains water is naturally inside the kernels.
Steam from the water as the kernels are heated creates enough pressure on the inside for the kernels to explode.
However, Gutwein said the kernels must contain about 14 percent moisture when stored.
The moisture level cannot drop much or the kernels, from lack of water on the inside, run the risk of not popping.
Gutwein said his grain bins are equipped with sensors monitoring the amount of moisture in the kernels.
The sensors activate fans that either bring in moist air or dry air depending on what's needed to keep the moisture in the kernels ideal.
He said kernels also won't pop if they've been scratched from pressure on the inside being allowed to escape.
The kernels, before being stored, are also run through a processing plant, which removes dirt and stones from the crop after harvest.
The need to replace a processing plant installed at the farm in 2014 marks the continued need to expand the operation.
"We have outgrown it," he said.
Gutwein said he's also in the process of constructing a new warehouse.
A majority of the 10 full-time employees at the farm are family members, including his two sons, Lance and Tyler, and their wives, Erica and Lacie.
Currently, a robot is used to stack all of the popcorn after it's bagged.
A new bagging machine is also in the process of being installed to eliminate the need for a worker to pick up empty bags.
"We're pretty automated, so we're able to do a lot with a few people," he said.
He also wants to inform fairgoers a successful farmer doesn't rely totally on Mother Nature.
"You can't control the weather, but you can control other things. You got to do your part and that's about all you can do," he said.
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