Chicago promoter gives up city to start organic farm in Indiana
By STAN MADDUX
Indiana Correspondent
NEW CARLISLE, Ind. — Shane Hansen has gone from being a promoter
in Chicago to earning his keep raising organic vegetables.
The 40-year old Hansen does it on just a one-acre parcel on 13
acres he owns in the hill country outside New Carlisle, in northwestern
Indiana. In 2012, he started Rainfield Farm at 8531 North 650 East.
Some of the 50,000 pounds of produce he churns out annually is
sold at Al’s Supermarkets in La Porte and Michigan City, Ind., and Barney’s
Supermarket in New Buffalo. The rest is offered mostly at farmers’ markets and
customers picking up produce at his farm on a weekly basis through a CSA (community
supported agriculture).
He grows mostly lettuce and other green leafy vegetables like
spinach and kale. Tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers are included in the more
than 50 varieties of produce raised at the farm.
Hansen grows nearly half of his vegetables year-round inside five
high tunnels; the rest are raised outdoors during the traditional growing
seasons. He also offers eggs from about 50 chickens kept on the property.
Hansen, originally from Michigan City, was involved in marketing
and promotions in Chicago and had no previous experience at farming. He was
bitten by the agriculture bug while volunteering on weekends at farmers’
markets and getting to know the growers.
“I fell in love with the lifestyle,” he explained.
He then studied up on the profession by visiting growers at their
production facilities, even during his work-related travels. Confident he could
secure enough buyers, he decided to take the plunge after talking things over
with his father, James, who later retired and moved to a guest house on his
son’s property. He also helps out on the farm.
“Everything just kind of fell together all at the same time, and
it just made sense,” Hansen said.
He was recently awarded a $4,000 grant from the Chef Rick Bayless
Frontera Farmer Foundation out of Chicago, and a $10,000 grant from USDA. The
USDA funds will be used to put up his sixth high tunnel and create a pollinator
field to help with production of honeybees, butterflies and insects good for
the soil and raising produce.
The other dollars will be for putting in plants to help reduce flooding
in a field caused by runoff from the hilly areas.
His was the only small farm in Indiana to receive a grant from
the Chicago-based foundation, started in 2003 to help struggling small farms in
the Midwest and preserve supply chains of fresh local produce deemed vital for
the culinary industry.
Hansen is successful enough to make his entire living from
organic farming and last year, brought in a farm manager, Sarah Dillon. One of
the messages he tries to convey from his career switch is that producing food
can be done successfully from a financial standpoint without a lot of acreage
and big machinery.
He said the biggest challenge has been achieving a balance
between the work involved in raising vegetables with the more hectic business
end of the operation.
Rainfield Farm supplies produce to various local health food
stores, along with juice and smoothie companies in Valparaiso and Chicago. The
farm also takes part in the school-to-farm program in Michigan City area
schools and donates produce to the PAX Center, a Christian-based organization
in La Porte that helps feed the hungry.
“It’s a great opportunity for people. You can really do it on a
small scale and do really well at it,” Hansen said.
Learn more about the farm and its CSA at www.rainfieldfarm.com
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