100-Year-Old Family Mint Business
Growing mint has been a Gumz family enterprize for 100 years, first in Indiana, and then in Wisconsin, where brothers Richard and Roderick Gumz are fourth generation farmers. The mint they grow is primarily used for toothpaste and chewing gum.
Their farm’s muck soil - up to 60 percent organic matter with a high water holding capacity - makes it ideal for growing peppermint and spearmint.
“Mint likes a more moist environment,” says Richard Gumz, who manages the mint operation. Growing about 1,000 acres of peppermint and spearmint fits in with the rotation on 5,700 additional acres with crops including red potatoes, carrots, onions, corn and soybeans.
While it has its advantages, muck soil is also prone to flooding and drainage issues that are managed with tile, ditches and pumps.
“Mint is a high user of potassium,” Gumz says. “Nitrogen application is dependent on soil type, with muck requiring less than 100 lbs. added nitrogen.”
Weed control with cultivation, limited herbicides use, and hand weeding is necessary to eliminate weeds that would affect the flavor of the mint oil.
“Mint is a perennial, sterile crop so there is no viable seed,” Gumz explains. “It is propagated by the root. We leave it in the field for 3 to 5 years. To establish a new field, we take roots from another field.”
Constant rotation with other crops is necessary to avoid disease, such as verticillium wilt, which was the reason Gumz’ grandfather expanded the operation from Indiana to Wisconsin in the 1940’s. Gumz brother, Dan, still grows mint on the Indiana farm.
Roots planted in the spring grow into plants big enough to harvest around Labor Day, but established fields of mint are harvested in late July and early August.
There’s a short window to harvest the mint when the leaves contain the most oil. Mint is mowed, windrowed, and field-dried for 2 to 3 days.
“Then we chop it into fully enclosed wagons that are actually the cooking vessel,” Gumz says, adding that it takes about 20 home-built 20 wagons to handle 1,000 acres of mint. “We inject steam though perforated pipes on the floor of each wagon and the steam rises through the crop.”
The steam vaporizes the oil so that the oil vapors travel through a condenser tube from the wagon to a modular condenser that turns the vapor back to liquid. The mint oil is separated from water by gravity.
“Average yield is 50 to 60 lbs. of oil per acre. That’s about 8 gal., so a 55-gal. drum of oil represents 6 to 10 acres of mint,” Gumz says. The remaining crop residue is composted and used for organic matter on fields.
Buyers blend the oil for various uses, but about 70 percent is purchased by Colgate and Wrigley. As less expensive imported substitutes and artificial flavors have become more prevalent, demand has dropped from 9 million lbs. in 2000 to around 5 million lbs.
Recently Colgate began a campaign to educate consumers about the U.S. grown product they use. About 70 percent of the world production of peppermint and spearmint is grown outside the U.S., with India being the largest producer of mint flavorings.
Despite the challenges, the Gumz family is committed to mint.
“Mint is our heritage. We know how to do it. It’s a close-knit industry,” Gumz says. “It’s nice harvesting it in July and August. And it smells good. Everyone in the township knows when you’re harvesting it. It’s one of the most recognized odors.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Gumz, Gumz Farms, N570 6th Court, Endeavor, Wis. 53930 (ph 608 981-2488; www.gumzfarmswi.com; info@gumzfarmswi.com).
100-Year-Old Family Mint Business Growing mint has been a Gumz family enterprize for 100 years first in Indiana and then in Wisconsin where brothers Richard and Roderick Gumz are fourth generation farmers The mint they grow is primarily used for toothpaste and chewing gum Their farm’s muck soil - up to 60 percent organic matter with a high water holding capacity - makes it ideal for growing peppermint and spearmint “Mint likes a more moist environment ” says Richard Gumz who manages the mint operation Growing about 1 000 acres of peppermint and spearmint fits in with the rotation on 5 700 additional acres with crops including red potatoes carrots onions corn and soybeans While it has its advantages muck soil is also prone to flooding and drainage issues that are managed with tile ditches and pumps “Mint is a high user of potassium ” Gumz says “Nitrogen application is dependent on soil type with muck requiring less than 100 lbs added nitrogen ” Weed control with cultivation limited herbicides use and hand weeding is necessary to eliminate weeds that would affect the flavor of the mint oil “Mint is a perennial sterile crop so there is no viable seed ” Gumz explains “It is propagated by the root We leave it in the field for 3 to 5 years To establish a new field we take roots from another field ” Constant rotation with other crops is necessary to avoid disease such as verticillium wilt which was the reason Gumz’ grandfather expanded the operation from Indiana to Wisconsin in the 1940’s Gumz brother Dan still grows mint on the Indiana farm Roots planted in the spring grow into plants big enough to harvest around Labor Day but established fields of mint are harvested in late July and early August There’s a short window to harvest the mint when the leaves contain the most oil Mint is mowed windrowed and field-dried for 2 to 3 days “Then we chop it into fully enclosed wagons that are actually the cooking vessel ” Gumz says adding that it takes about 20 home-built 20 wagons to handle 1 000 acres of mint “We inject steam though perforated pipes on the floor of each wagon and the steam rises through the crop ” The steam vaporizes the oil so that the oil vapors travel through a condenser tube from the wagon to a modular condenser that turns the vapor back to liquid The mint oil is separated from water by gravity “Average yield is 50 to 60 lbs of oil per acre That’s about 8 gal so a 55-gal drum of oil represents 6 to 10 acres of mint ” Gumz says The remaining crop residue is composted and used for organic matter on fields Buyers blend the oil for various uses but about 70 percent is purchased by Colgate and Wrigley As less expensive imported substitutes and artificial flavors have become more prevalent demand has dropped from 9 million lbs in 2000 to around 5 million lbs Recently Colgate began a campaign to educate consumers about the U S grown product they use About 70 percent of the world production of peppermint and spearmint is grown outside the U S with India being the largest producer of mint flavorings Despite the challenges the Gumz family is committed to mint “Mint is our heritage We know how to do it It’s a close-knit industry ” Gumz says “It’s nice harvesting it in July and August And it smells good Everyone in the township knows when you’re harvesting it It’s one of the most recognized odors ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Richard Gumz Gumz Farms N570 6th Court Endeavor Wis 53930 ph 608 981-2488; www gumzfarmswi com; info@gumzfarmswi com
