Newly Minted! Mint Harvest Gumz Muck Farms. LLC Endeavor, WI By Ruth Johnson, Editor
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The heady aroma of a field of commercially grown peppermint awakens your senses and immediately evokes memories of your favorite mint-related foods and beverages. However, foods and beverages are not the biggest end users of Wisconsin grown mint oils. Ninety percent of Wisconsin mint oil is designated for chewing gum and toothpaste. A 55-gallon drum of mint oil can flavor nearly five-million sticks of chewing gum or thousands of tubes of toothpaste. Mint is not a crop normally associated with Central Wisconsin, where potatoes and vegetables dominate farming. Annually, the U.S. grows an average 80,000 acres of peppermint and spearmint, accounting for more than 70% of the world’s mint oil supply. (Continued on Page 10) Opposite Page: Richard Gumz, co-owner of Gumz Muck Farms, LLC, stands in one of their mint fields. Inset photo is a Purple Gallinule marsh duck with an orange bill and iridescent feathers, rarely seen in Central WI. Richard leaves the drainage ditch network naturally wild to provide a haven for wildlife. We saw two of the Purple Gallinules in the Gumz ditches during our visit. Top: Commercial mint is a sterile, complex perennial, seldom producing seed. Planting a new mint field requires digging up an existing field of certified rootstock with healthy growth. One acre of rootstock will produce ten acres of new mint. Right: Mint grows best in nutrient-rich, extremely fertile, dark muck soil of which there are large deposits in Central WI. Muck soil is found in previously swampy or wet areas formed during the glacial age.
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The first U.S. mint crop was planted around 1810. Today, 80,000+ acres of mint are raised nationwide, approximately equal to the total corn acreage in Columbia County, WI. Mint was not commercially cultivated in Wisconsin until the mid-20th century primarily to supply Chicago’s chewing gum giant, the Wrigley Company. Even after a late start, Wisconsin ranks fifth in the nation for mint oil production with approximately 80-85% of acreage devoted to growing peppermint, the remainder to spearmint. No one should know this better than Richard Gumz, who together with his brother, Roderick, co-owns Gumz Muck Farms, LLC, with farms located in Marquette, Columbia and Sauk Counties. Their mint operation is ranked in the top twelve nationwide and top two in Wisconsin. Richard also serves as President of the Wisconsin Mint Board. (Continued on Page 12) Top: Planting time - Sterile mint rootstock is being planted into the 5’-8’ deep muck soil. The rootstock is bred for disease-resistance, which minimizes chemical pesticides usage. Middle: Harvest preparation - Gumz Muck Farms harvests and distills their mint crops July to August when the plants are about two-feet high and at ten percent of full bloom. A self-propelled mower conditioner cuts and gathered the plants into windrows to cure for 2-3 days, allowing moisture to evaporate from the leaves. Bottom: Harvest - The forage harvester chops the dried mint and blows it into a distillation tub. It takes about two acres of hay to fill a mint tub. It is then transported back to the distilling operation where mint oil will be extracted.
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Gumz Muck Farms totals over 6,000 acres with 1,000+ acres planted to mint. Red potatoes, onions, carrots, soybeans and field corn grow on the remaining acres. The Endeavor operation incorporates a series of drainage ditches left naturally wild, which creates a bird watcher’s paradise. During our visit, we saw snow-white egrets, great blue herons, ducks, geese, red tail hawks, a bald eagle, several killdeer, red-winged blackbirds, many different songbirds and two beautiful Purple Gallinule marsh ducks with iridescent feathers and orange bills rarely sighted in Wisconsin. The Baraboo operation, nestled in a large, flat valley surrounded by the incredibly scenic Baraboo Bluffs, offers a more wide-open feel. An interesting side note: Richards’s grandfather purchased this land in 1948. When Richard’s dad, Jerry, climbed Baraboo Bluffs in the early 1950s, there were no trees on them. Today, conifers and hardwoods blanket the bluffs. (Continued on Page 12) Top Left: Richard Gumz shows Jim Faivre how this boiler, which operates at 110 -120 psi, fires up the distillation process. Top Right: Gumz Muck Farms has several extraction/distillation facilities located at key points to maximize efficiency. Middle: The molten-hot fire in the boiler, which you can view through this porthole, reaches 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Bottom: Processed mint oil is pumped into 55-gallon galvanized drums where it can be stored for several years. It takes 8-10 tubs of mint hay to fill a 55-gallon drum with mint oil. Drums are loaded on a semi-trailer and hauled to a buyer in Indiana. Most of the oil will ultimately be sold to Colgate for toothpaste or the Wrigley’s Company for chewing gum.
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Richard says that after the crops survive inclement weather, disease, weeds and insects, the mature crop is ready to be harvested by Mid-July to late August, and then distilled into oil. DISTILLATION MADE EASY The graphic above illustrates the distillation process and breaks it down into an easily understood framework. Steam runs from the boiler into pipes in the bottom of the harvest tub and pushes up through the mint hay for 90-120 minutes, extracting mint oil from the glands on the leaves’ lower surfaces, as a vapor. The vapor flows into the condenser. The leftover hay is returned to fields as organic matter. Normally, it takes two acres of mint to fill a tub, which will yield 80 to 100 pounds of oil. The condenser cools steam and mint oil vapor to about 115 degrees, where mint oil and water separate well, and then flow into the separating cans. Mint oil rises to the top and is pumped into 55-gallon drums. The water leaving the condenser flows into the used water tank where it will be recycled to feed the boiler once again to make steam for processing. (Continued on Page 13) Top: Distillation process graphic. Middle: I asked Richard what the used water tank temperature was. He said it was about 140 degrees resulting from the condenser cooling the steam and mint oil vapor so they will separate well. I am glad it was his hand and not mine, that close to the water. Bottom: Gumz Muck Farms fabricates equipment for their specialized needs, like these 14-foot long tubs (wagons), which are watertight with gasketed doors to seal in steam. Steam enters through pipes upon the floor of the tubs. During harvest, the chopped, dried mint is collected into the tubs and returned to the distillery for mint oil extraction.
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SUPER SOIL Gumz Muck Farms is so named because their farms are all on muck soil. Supercharged with nutrients and even richer than mineral soils, muck soil began long ago as swampy or wet areas. As the wetness dried up, it left decaying vegetation and trees. It takes Nature about 500 years to create one foot of muck soil. Due to its high concentrations of organic matter, muck is extremely dark in color, allowing it to efficiently collect and retain heat from the sun and heat up earlier than lighter-colored ground in the spring, an advantage for crops that need an early start, like mint and onions. Nutrient-rich, extremely fertile muck features great water-holding capacity and usually needs no irrigation. Muck is moist all season, dries on the surface only, yet does not crust over in sun. One foot depth muck soil can hold two inches of water, compared to mineral soil, which holds one inch of water per foot. Plants in muck can survive two weeks on the muck soil without any limitations, compared to only one week on mineral soil. (Continued on Page 14) Top: The relatively tasteless vegetative matter that remains in the tub after essential oils are extracted, is deposited in a pile while still steaming hot and once cooled, is recycled for use as sterile compost. Left: Mint is a perennial plant and the first year it is planted in 36� rows, which rapidly spread out, mat-like to fill the field. Bees love mint blossoms, which provide much needed nectar at a time when many other flowers have stopped blooming.
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Muck’s high organic matter content also alleviates soil compaction. The soil is fine, soft and loose, allowing plant roots to grow deeper more easily. Fairly light and finely textured, it blows away easily when it is dry, so farmers often build windbreaks near their crops and use extensive cover crops. GUMZ FARMS PRODUCTS
Gumz Farms produces a wide selection of locally grown, premium quality red potatoes, yellow onions, peppermint and spearmint, field corn, soybeans and carrots. Their products are distributed to regional and national wholesalers, retailers and food service companies under many labels, including their own signature brand, Richard’s Finest. Gumz Farms also offers a wide range of produce services including washing, grading, packaging, transporting, sales and distribution. Recently, they also became an authorized dealer of Pioneer Brand Seeds®. (Continued on page 15) Photos: Gumz Muck Farms is one of the most diverse farms I have ever featured. The logistics involved in juggling six different crops are mind-boggling especially with each crop requiring specific specialized equipment, planting, growing, harvesting and marketing practices. According to Richard, “We need the right tools and equipment at the right time so you have to have them ready and waiting for whatever task is needed at that particular moment.”
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PAST & PRESENT It all began in the early 1900's, when Frederick Gumz, great grandfather to Richard and Roderick Gumz, emigrated from Prussia and settled into a small Midwestern farming community in Indiana. There, he established the first Gumz family farm. Frederick passed down his high work ethic, commitment to quality and belief in preserving the land, to three generations of Gumz farmers and counting. As good stewards of the land and sensitive to environmental concerns, Gumz Muck Farms, which remains family operated, utilizes responsive agricultural practices including integrated pest management, third party auditing and crop rotation. This helps drastically reduce pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Going forward, the Gumz brothers say they will “continue to diversify and grow in areas complimentary to our current products and services.” Top: Roderick (left) and Richard (right) Gumz pose in front of their newly completed, extensively remodeled office/warehouse expansion, initiated to better serve current and future demand in a safe and responsive manner. Right: Richard stands beside some of the many crates of the operation’s onions, ready for bagging. Bottom: The farms’ drainage ditches are left naturally wild, providing abundant cover and a suitable environment for birds and wildlife. A large great blue heron is faintly visible, highlighted where the line crosses the road horizontally and a bald eagle (in shadowed box) soars to the left overhead.
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