Corn Farms
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Corn Farms

The migration of the Corn family west starts near the end of the civil war. When Great, great grandfather Francis Marion Corn, (named after the swamp fox, Francis Marion) decided it was time for his family to leave North Carolina and find a new life. He had served in the North Carolina regulars through the civil war and was ready to leave it all behind. He moved his family to Missouri where he made a living running a "Grist Mill". After spending 15 years in Missouri he became aware of new land and opportunities in the west. In 1880, he moved his family in a covered wagon to Boise, Idaho. He and his sons, Marcus and Silas, worked as carpenters. Great, Great Grandfather Marcus worked on constructing the new Idaho Capitol. With the development of irrigation systems in the west, new land was available to homestead in the Boise Valley. Great Grandfather William was the first Corn to farm in the Treasure Valley. He started farming and ranching in Middleton, Idaho. In 1932, the Owyhee Irrigation Project was completed, opening over 100,000 acres for development in Malheur County, Oregon, which is 60 miles west of Boise, Idaho. Great Grandfather William and Grandfather Fay took advantage of the cheap, new land and moved to Nyssa, Oregon. My father, Dick, myself, and my children make five generations of Corns who have worked the land in Malheur County, Oregon. Eastern Oregon is a semi-arid desert climate. The soil is mostly a silt loam soil. The arid warm climate, when combined with irrigation water is suitable for growing a wide diversity of high quality crops. Over 100 different crops are grown in the Treasure Valley of Oregon and Idaho. Corn Farms now consists of 1500 acres of diversified row crops.

Corn Farms has produced wheat for many years. The most common wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest is soft white wheat. This type of wheat is mainly used for pastries and the Asian noodle markets. Because of difficult marketing conditions we began looking for different and better ways to utilize our farm by producing new products that could be directly marketed to our customers. Renae has baked bread for many years and was familiar with the use and home storage of hard red wheat. In 1998 we decided to try growing a small acreage of hard red wheat. 1999 marked the first marketable crop of 30 acres. A small, local bakery in Boise, Idaho was using hard red wheat. Renae contacted them and they expressed interest in a local source, as long as we could meet their standards. Corn Farms is now the exclusive supplier of whole wheat to Classic Harvest Bread Company. Their bread is sold, pesticide free, to grocery stores throughout the Northwest. Corn Farms yearly tests their wheat to insure no chemical residue is detectable in their wheat after it is harvested. This test checks for over 200 common chemicals. Since 1999, Renae has traveled extensively, teaching seminars on the use of our wheat. We now service several commercial customers, as well as countless individuals in supplying whole grains to make nutritious and healthy bread and cereal products for their families. All grains that are grown on Corn Farms are stored at the farm, where no storage pesticides are used. All storage's are air-cooled to control insects. Wheat bought from Corn Farms has its identity insured. It is only removed from storage to clean and bag, it is then shipped directly to you, our valued customers.