On a Sunday afternoon in mid-September, the fields of Doubting Thomas Farms near Moorhead, Minnesota, will fill with an unlikely mix of visitors: children chasing dairy goats, foodies sampling chef-crafted tapas, and farmers huddled around squat yellow robots that can kill weeds without a drop of herbicide. The occasion is A Chef's Table - A Day on the Farm, the annual open house that Noreen Thomas, the organic farmer who launched the event, has built into one of the Red River Valley's most anticipated celebrations of local food and cutting-edge agriculture.
The event, set for Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is the latest iteration of a gathering that Thomas started years ago as a simple Day on the Farm, then gradually expanded to include local chefs as another way to promote regional foods and talent. The result is a four-hour program that manages to be at once a county fair, a research symposium, and a farm-to-table feast. "Small farms can create multiple income streams, identify customer bases, test products and add value to what they grow," Thomas says. "The principle behind it all really is 'From growing to earning.'"
That philosophy is rooted in the farm's own remarkable history. Doubting Thomas Farms has been in Lee Thomas's family for five generations, spanning more than 140 years of continuous stewardship. When Noreen and Lee decided to go organic in 1997, Lee's father worried they would be the last to work the land. "The older generations did things differently. There was uncertainty over whether we could survive depending on niche markets for sales," Noreen recalls. The gamble paid off. Today the certified-organic operation spans 1,200 acres of grains, feed, and beans, with daughter-in-law Melany now handling much of the day-to-day farming, growing wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, and soybeans.
The family's foray into local food began about fifteen years before that, when the three Thomas children were in grade school and raising natural, non-GMO pork as a 4-H project. They had more meat than they could eat, so Noreen, trembling with nerves, approached a nearby chef to ask if she might buy some. "I was trying to be brave in front of the kids," she laughs. "Back then, no one in this area was doing local food. It was foreign." The chef bought every hog they had, launching a small business incubator that taught the Thomas kids to raise eggs, poultry, mushrooms, oats, microgreens, and berries - and to learn from their failures. "Sometimes we don't let people go through the process of failure," Noreen says. "Even if it doesn't work out, you still learned something. It's like getting a merit badge, and then you move on."
That willingness to experiment is on full display at this year's event, which spotlights some of the most promising research in Northern Plains agriculture. Attendees can tour an acre of perennial sunflowers developed by Brent Hulke, a USDA research geneticist in Fargo. Unlike the annual commodity sunflowers that dominate the region, Hulke's perennials are planted once and come back year after year, meaning farmers don't disturb the soil or irrigate repeatedly. "It's kind of the future," Thomas says. The plants serve multiple functions: after the heads are harvested for oil, cattle can graze the stalks, which then regrow the following spring to provide forage and early ground cover. The slender stems are also easier on farm machinery than the thick, woody stalks of traditional sunflowers, and the seeds contain squalene, a lipid widely used in cosmetics that is conventionally extracted from shark liver oil - making the plant version "much more sustainable," Thomas notes. Overall, she says, the idea is so progressive that "it's like ag in 20 years probably."
Visitors can also learn about elderberries, another perennial crop with huge potential for the region. These antioxidant-rich berries thrive in cold northern climates and are in surging demand for syrups and teas believed to shorten cold and flu symptoms. Yet the U.S. health and wellness supplement industry currently imports 95 percent of its elderberry ingredients, according to the Midwest Elderberry Cooperative, even though the plant could easily be grown in North Dakota. Thomas points out that North American elderberries contain five times the antiviral properties of European varieties, and an elderberry syrup plant is being built near Albert Lea, Minnesota, right now.
Perhaps the most futuristic attraction is the weed-killing robot. North Dakota and Minnesota farmers are especially plagued by waterhemp, which has grown so resistant to herbicides that chemical solutions are failing. The answer, Thomas says, could be an army of squat, yellow robots running across fields 24/7, cutting off the canopy of pesky plants and exposing them to the hot sun until they die. Clint Brauer, the Kansas farmer and former technology executive who founded Greenfield Robotics after his father's death from Parkinson's disease, will be at the event to demonstrate his autonomous machines, which use AI and machine vision to navigate between crop rows and cut weeds close to the ground. Local farmer Ethan Johnson will also be there with his own bot, which he rents out to other farmers - a model Thomas says shows how smaller producers can band together to take advantage of promising technology. The event will also feature several NDSU doctoral candidates demonstrating their SoilXplorer, an autonomous soil-sampling robot that placed fifth worldwide in the International Farm Robotics Challenge.
For foodies, the day is equally rich. Chef Andrea Baumgartner will be on hand from 2 to 3 p.m. to sign her popular cookbook, "BernBaum's: Recipes from Fargo's Nordic-Jewish Deli." Chef Joe Swegarden of Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe will serve a tasting menu, and Candace Stock, executive chef of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota, will pour sumac-infused lemonade. A farmers market from 1 to 3 p.m. will feature jams, jellies, apples, melons, and other local treats, while vendors sell homemade soaps and other goods.
Nature lovers have their own programming. Sabrina Halvorson, a University of Minnesota Extension master naturalist known as "The Fumbling Forager," will show how pollinator plantings support biodiversity. A panel of an organic farmer, an Audubon representative, and a naturopath will discuss plants that boost health, organic planting, and bird-related topics. A master gardener will answer home gardeners' questions, and local Audubon representatives will provide binoculars for birding walks.
For the youngest visitors, the day is pure delight. Travis Johnson, a teacher from Climax, Minnesota, will bring his dairy goats for petting, along with caramels made from their milk. A kiddie barrel train will wind around the farm, a kite runway invites children to try flying, and lawn games and kiddie "grain" pools - sandboxes filled with grain - will keep little hands busy. Karin Boom of LaMoure will guide families through a fiber-arts craft, Aimee Klein will draw caricatures, and Lynn Park of Dilworth will lead an art project. A photo booth with a giant frame will capture the day's memories.
Registration is required, with tickets starting at $13.49, and organizers ask attendees to reserve ahead to help with food preparation and planning. The event is the culmination of Thomas's decades of work as a volunteer educator, former Bush Fellow, and tireless advocate for connecting people to the land. As she puts it, the goal is simple: to show that knowledge shared with others can collectively help resolve our world's hunger problems - one baby goat, one chef's tasting, and one weed-killing robot at a time.