Lincoln County, out in the Great Plains of Colorado, was founded in 1889. Hugo is a special place for agriculture and ranching. Once home to a thriving ranch-lands community, the first Agricultural Training Service was founded for World War I Veterans. Hugo is not only famous for its sweeping landscapes but is also known for beef and buffalo processing. In 2002, The American Native Beef Council announced a $25M investment in expanding Buffalo and Angus beef harvesting operations.
Grains From The Plains
In the 1930s, Kevin Poss’s great-grandfather headed west from Ranson, Kansas, settling in Hugo, Colorado. The Great Depression was a paradigm for advancing unknown territories in the United States. Due to the economy, farmers like Kevin’s ancestor's - crop shared on the Plains until they could raise enough money to purchase their land. In 1946, Kevin’s grandfather purchased a farm in Hugo, Colorado - which is still in the family today. By 2005, Kevin was offered the opportunity to take over grain farming and move back from Colorado Springs to help his parents on the farm. His dad retired in 2011, and shortly after Marrying the love of his life, Laura, and sharing in having seven children - they charted their course to expand the business by leasing additional land to diversify their acreage. So they founded Grains From the Plains, a family grain farming operation.
Working With Seed Explorers and Universities
Kevin and Laura farm 1,000 acres, and their crop rotation yields about 300 acres per year. They grow on non-irrigated dry-land. Grains From the Plains practices organic standards but is not certified by the local agencies. Their practices and experiences are to work toward further exploring cover crops and Regenerative Farming standards. They currently grow Rustic Red, Windy White, Scout 66, and Turkey Red Heritage Grains. Rustic Red is a Colorado State University (CSU) variety that uses the naming convention, Hatcher. Windy White is also a Colorado State University (CSU) variety with the Heritage name Antero. Even more near and dear to their hearts, Scout 66 is an Heirloom grain they brought back to the farm. The Poss family has also grown lesser amounts of Triticale, Proso Millet, TAM105, and Peas. In 2024, they are trying some Heritage Wheat varieties in the ground, including three more white grains. They do have plans for some other grains and legumes in the future. Although they have never worked with the CSU Extension system, they looked to the grain experts in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs to locate copyright-free white varieties to plant and experiment with on the farm. CSU was also instrumental in securing other white wheat seeds. One of the challenging grains to grow in Colorado is Einkorn. Kevin and Laura took a chance to grow a good crop three times but were unsuccessful.
Water - A Precious Resource In Colorado
Water is not necessarily a big challenge for the Poss family, but it is an issue for the State of Colorado. The Colorado River District is mildly concerned about 2024 but remains conservative about what they release downstream.
The Mockmill and Grain Sales
Marketing and sales are mainly Laura’s wheelhouse, and she has successfully set up a broad and deep web presence and a distributorship with Mockmill. The company chose Grains From The Plains to sell their product and brand to family baking and hobby milling communities. In fact, Paul LaBeau reached out to the Poss's and requested a meeting to explore a partnership. Today, Mockmill has grown, and they remain a proud partner and friend of Paul. Sales are part of the farm’s sales and marketing platform. Grains From the Plains mills over 3,000 pounds of flour each year for customers, but 90% of their business is whole wheat berries. They sell to a few cottage bake-houses, but most of their business is home bakers, mushroom growers, and preppers.
Farm Equipment
Kevin uses a John Deere 8870 4-wheel Drive Tractor and a John Deere 7720 Combine. He also loves his Massey Ferguson 5610 Row crop tractor and Flex-King Sweeps Chisel plow. For swathing, he drives the New Holland Swather and Mac Don Draper Swather. For transportation on the farm, he drives a Ford Tandem Truck.
Advice For Entrepreneurs
Kevin and Laura built a boots-on-the-ground operation. When asked about offering advice for aspiring farmers breaking into the wheat and grain farming business, they had some keen and inspiring words. Young farmers might consider growing gluten-free crops because Extension scientists and universities are exploring it. However, farmers who rotate crops need a second set of equipment to comply with hygiene requirements.
Livestock
Raising Angus and Angus Cross steer, with Hereford bred into the Angus, and they only sell their meat by the Whole or Half. Their pigs are Hampshire, Berkshire, and Duroc, and they are expanding into Kune Kune - as they are more suited for pasture raising. Most of their customers come from as far as the Denver Metro area and Colorado Springs. If customers want to pre-order please call Laura or put down a deposit online through their website. All their beef is grass-fed and grass-finished.
Annual Harvest Festival
During high Summer, around mid-July, Grains From the Plains opens its doors to all customers and community members to join in on a “Farm-To-Table” celebration. They partner with Drifter’s BBQ, from Arriba, for the meat smoker. Moose Roost Bakery, located in Hugo, for the buns and other baked goods. They tap into their friends from Ahavah Farm in Peyton for microgreens. Their 2024 Wheat Harvest Festival will be held July 13th in their field.
Customers and friends attend to share and pay thanks to where their wheat comes from. It’s a family operation and they play lawn games and have their pork smoked by Drifter’s BBQ. The buns are made with their wheat by the folks at Moose Roost. Offering a straw ride with Kevin's 1941 Model B, they pick the field peas if they can time it right! Laura shared that the peas are sweet, like sugar snap peas around July. It is free for our customers, but they do accept donations.
Laura and Kevin have a special story, and anyone living in or around Hugo, Colorado, should explore their offerings and experience a summer harvest at least once.
