by Ellery Newhouse

Mark Boyer started his sunflower venture 12 years ago with the hope of creating diversity and security for his family farm. The sunflower fields are helping form connections and provide for numerous local businesses, all because he took a leap of faith and tried something new.

“We are small-business owners who see value in Indiana agriculture,” Boyer says. He farms near Converse, Ind.

His sunflowers are harvested, cold-pressed and turned into sunflower oil. Boyer does the processing himself and markets his sunflower oil product as Healthy Hoosier Oil.

Boyer knew his product had a lot of potential, but he wasn’t sure where to start with marketing. “There was a big gap between production and storefront,” he says.

Partnering with Indiana Grown

Around the same time, the Indiana Grown program was just getting started. Boyer partnered with Indiana Grown in 2015. From there, he was able to network and learn more about how to grow his business. Indiana Grown is housed within the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to promote products grown, raised, processed or packaged within Indiana.

“Businesses can look forward to connecting with others and networking,” says Caroline Patrick, program director. Healthy Hoosier Oil became a vendor and started displaying at food shows. Through the food shows, Boyer found a distributor and venue for his product, as well as met other Indiana Grown members.

“It planted the seed to open the retail store to highlight those products,” Boyer says. “That is the concept behind Rachel’s Taste of Indiana.”

Boyer worked with his wife, Rachel, to open a storefront in Converse. Rachel’s Taste of Indiana opened in 2018 as a place to feature products grown and made in Indiana.

Supporting one another

As the business grew and Boyer made more connections through Indiana Grown, he started working with other vendors. First, he worked with Jeff Bricker and his business, Chef Bricker’s Brick House Vinaigrettes. Brick House started using Boyer’s Healthy Hoosier Oil as a base ingredient in its line of vinaigrettes.

Boyer then started working with Ron Bastin and his business, Bastin Honey Bee Farm, Knightstown, Ind. Bastin brought hives to the sunflower farm. The beehives help the sunflowers with pollination, and Bastin honey products are sold at Rachel’s Taste of Indiana.

After sunflowers go through the oil extraction process, sunflower meal is left as a byproduct. “There is no wasted product in the oil extraction,” Boyer says. “All goes into livestock feed.”

Boyer partners with Nathan Hunt, Hunt Family Farms, in Amboy, Ind. The Hunts feed their animals Boyer’s sunflower meal.

The Hunts’ pork is sold at Rachel’s Taste of Indiana, as well as at the restaurant Jefferson Street BBQ in Converse. Jefferson Street BBQ is owned and operated by Lindsay Baker.

Another local restaurant that uses Boyer’s Healthy Hoosier Oil is the Big Dipper, an ice cream diner in Converse, which uses the oil in its deep fryers.

STANDING TALL: Finding others to work with can grow new ideas. Nathan Hunt (left), Lindsay Baker and Mark Boyer pose in front of Boyer’s sunflower field. (Rob Salem)

“We wouldn’t be as successful as we are without these great folks along the way,” Boyer says. The journey of Rachel’s Taste of Indiana and Healthy Hoosier Oil has benefited not just the Boyer family, but these Indiana businesses, too.

“When a business joins Indiana Grown, they join a support structure,” Patrick adds.

Member resources

Indiana Grown has a wide range of resources to help grow and support its members. The program displays its members at indianagrown.org. Members can use the Indiana Grown logo on their products and packaging. This allows customers to distinguish Indiana Grown members from other producers at the grocery store or farmers market.

Customers can find members through the directory by searching for a specific company or product. They will find a business profile that has pictures and more information.

“For us within Indiana Grown, it is supporting local and helping businesses network,” Patrick says. “I am honored to do that each day.”

Indiana Grown has 1,900 members and supports all 92 counties. Businesses can choose to work together to discuss ideas or brainstorm. Patrick says the program partners with Indiana Farm Bureau and Purdue University to make it as robust as possible.

“You get out what you put in with the program,” Boyer says. “Indiana Grown gave us a platform.” Boyer says in the future, he will pass the farm down in better shape than it would have been in if he hadn’t joined the program.

THE STOREFRONT: Rachel and Mark Boyer stand in front of their storefront in Converse, Ind. Rachel’s Taste of Indiana sells a variety of locally sourced home goods. (Courtesy of Mark Boyer)

The story of the sunflower

The sunflower fields on Boyer’s farm were intended as an idea to diversify the farm during an economically depressed time for agriculture. Boyer and his father looked at popcorn and tomatoes and accidentally came across cold-pressed oil.

Their first year consisted of 10 acres of sunflowers and learning how to work with extraction equipment. Boyer says it ended up working very well, and that’s why they continued the process.

Cold-pressing sunflowers is known as a chemical-free process. This includes a screw extractor and an immense amount of pressure to squeeze the oil out. Boyer says he knew there was demand in the market for cold-pressed oil due to its health benefits. Therefore, he wanted his product to be clean.

“We don’t use any type of shelf-stabilizing chemical,” Boyer says. “This is a clean extraction process.”

Boyer says the only downside to cold-press extraction is that only 60% of the oil gets extracted out of the crop. The result is a less-efficient process, but a product that is higher in quality.

“We have been very fortunate to have success,” Boyer says. At the same time, he is proud of the reciprocated support from the local economy in Converse, and the people who have made it all possible.

Newhouse is a senior in ag communication at Purdue University.