By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
Do farmers feed the world? In one sense, absolutely. But farm products go through a vast and complex system before they are consumed. Today we’ll learn about an entrepreneurial Kansas farmer who increased his product’s value by taking it directly to the consumer.
Last week we met Leon Winfrey, who farms and runs an outfitting business in southwest Kansas. Years ago, he was in his tractor listening to Paul Harvey on the radio and heard an ad with a line stating that “farmers feed the world.” Leon thought to himself, “I don’t feed the world. I feed my banker, and the fertilizer company, and the seed company.” His crop income was going entirely to pay these high-cost suppliers, and corn prices were low.
“In my hunting business, when my costs go up, I increase my price,” Leon said. “But with my corn, I haul it to town and the grain elevator tells me what price I have to take,” he said. He researched some alternatives, one of which was growing corn for human food such as tortillas.
With research in hand, he went to his banker and told him he wanted to build his own tortilla factory. “I’ll bet,” the banker replied with a laugh. “Well, here’s the price of field corn, and here’s the price of corn when sold as a tortilla,” Leon pointed out. “When would you like the money?” the banker replied. Continue reading “Leon Winfrey, Southwest Tortillas”
