Grain Place Foods

“Providing ecologically sustainable grain products that benefit the long-term health of our clients and our planet because how your food is produced does matter!”

The Grain Place, located on the Vetter Family Farm in Marquette NE, has been growing organically since Don Vetter quit chemical farming in 1953. He saw the results of intense tillage, chemical application, and overfarming – soil that was more dead than living, farm wildlife diminishing, and his family's quality of life declining. After earning degrees in both agronomy and theology, Don's son Dave returned home in 1975. The two became a team that perservered through hard learning years-honing skills, learning lessons, and experimenting with everything, but always keeping the health of the soil front of mind.

“For David, organic, sustainable farming methods became an application of both biological and theological principles.”

The Vetters are not only pioneers of organic growing in the midwest, but organic grain cleaning, processing and handling. They were among the first farmers in the midwest to have large quantities of organic crops that needed to be processed – cleaned, sorted,dried, conditioned, milled, rolled and packaged- and out of that need came Grain Place Foods. The processing side of Grain Place Foods is now well known in the region and country for it's quality products and highly skilled staff. They have helped to kindle the fire of organic and ecological farming throughout Nebraska, and the US.

“Whenever possible, we to source the highest quality grains close to home. Of Grain Place Foods’ 128 current growers, 101 of them are from the Midwest. Including 46 from Nebraska!”

What Grain Place Foods offers:

  • Organic barley, brown rice, freeze-dried blueberries, chia, cane sugar, corn, flaxseeds, kamut khorasan wheat, millet, oats, popcorn, quinoa, rye, soybeans, spelt, sunflower, triticale, wheat, cold pressed vanilla extract.

Where to Find Grain Place Foods products:

Grain Place Field Day 2022

July 16th - 8:30 am -4:00 pm

More information and registration here: http://www.grainplacefoundation.org/fieldday/

Tour our regenerative, organic Grain Place farm. Enjoy a farm lunch. Hear Paul Schiefer of Amy's Kitchen and Kellee James of Mercaris.

You are invited to join us for our annual Grain Place Foundation Field Day on Saturday, July 16 at the Grain Place Farm near Marquette, Nebraska.

In the morning of our annual farm tour, we will give you an up-close view of our 280-acre organic farm, which has been pioneering organic, regenerative agriculture in central Nebraska for decades. Walk the fields with David Vetter, and see some of what we have learned. The tour will also include a chance to tour Grain Place Foods, the organic grain processing facility on site.

We will offer a lunch on the farm, made with organic food from the Grain Place, as well as other local sources. This year, we are pleased to welcome chef Anthony L Warrior of Warrior's Palate Catering. An active member of the Little Axe Little River Ceremonial ground of the Shawnee, his lifelong quest for education fuels the passion for learning and preparing traditional sustenance that stimulates cultural retention and community healing. Tickets are required for the lunch--they are available online in advance of the tour day for $20. (Tickets will be $25 on the day of the event, as available.)

After lunch, we will feature our keynote presentations.

Our first speaker will be Paul Schiefer, Vice President of Impact and Communication for Amy's Kitchen. Amy's Kitchen is the leading producer of high-quality organic frozen meals and soups. Paul oversees Amy's Environmental and Social Impact Strategies, integrating sustainability and social justice into all aspects of the business, including sourcing and agricultural practices, manufacturing operations, employee programs, and products.

Our second speaker will be Kellee James, Founder and CEO of Mercaris.

Kellee James is Founder and CEO of Mercaris, a market data service and trading platform for organic agricultural commodities and ingredients. Prior to Mercaris, Kellee spent five years at the start-up company Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the first electronic trading platform and registry for spot, futures and options on carbon, sulfur, clean energy and other environmental products. In 2009/2010, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as a White House Fellow. She has also worked with coffee farmers in Latin America on risk management and income diversification strategies. Kellee was named by Crain's Chicago Business Magazine as a '40 under 40' rising leader. Ms. James is an Aspen Institute Catto Environmental Fellow and also serves on the Boards of the Organic Trade Association and Oregon Tilth one of the largest certifiers of organic farmland. Kellee received her MBA and MA in International Development from American University in Washington, DC and completed a BA in Spanish from the University of Kentucky.

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We are pleased to feature the work of artist Steven Tamayo during Field Day this year.

Steve Tamayo draws upon his family history as a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe. His fine arts education (BFA from Singe Gleska University), along with his cultural upbringing, have shaped him as an artist, historian, storyteller and dancer. Steve provides activities during his residencies that include art and regalia making, drumming, powwow dance demonstrations and lectures on the history, symbolism and meaning behind the Native customs and traditions.

Steve has considerable experience developing curricula and teaching both youth and adults, including work with the Native American Advocacy Program of South Dakota, Omaha Public Schools, Minnesota Humanities Council and Metropolitan Community College of Omaha. He also leads groups of students and teachers on cultural excursions on the Rosebud reservation, introducing them to the rich culture and way of life that is slowly being revived among native communities. He is a past Governor’s Heritage Art Award recipient, an honor bestowed for his contributions in the arts and Native American culture.

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If you cannot make it for the whole day, you are welcome to join us for a part!

Dreaming of a Vetter World

“One day in 1953, Nebraska farmer Donald Vetter had an epiphany while spraying his cornfield. He’d wondered for a while about the wartime chemicals—now approved for agricultural use—he was putting on his crops. Disappointed with the results, he’d also noticed these chemicals stripped the goodness from the soil and killed wildlife. And what were they doing to the food itself? He decided right then and there that he wasn’t going spray anymore.

Donald Vetter—and his son, David—then went on to become regenerative organic farming pioneers.”

Watch the trailer here

Dreaming of a Vetter World is a documentary film about the Vetter Farm and Grain Place Foods.  The film beautifully communicates the philosophy and life of Don Vetter and his son Dave in relation to their farm and their responsibilities as humans – to their neighbors and the earth. It weaves biography, philosophy and soil science into the larger story of industrial chemical agriculture and it's counterpoint – regenerative agriculture.

“Dreaming of a Vetter World is the movie to watch if you dream of a better food and farming system. We need to replace the industrial-chemical driven monopoly of modern agribusiness. Regenerative organic farmer David Vetter shows how we can farm in nature’s image without unhealthy pesticides and fertilizers that destroy the soil, which Bonnie Hawthorne captures beautifully in her epic documentary.”David Bronner, CEO Dr. Bronner’s

Find upcoming screenings here