Member Spotlight: January 2019

Jirik Family Farms
This month’s spotlight is on Jim Jirik of Jirik Farms LLC….and not because he was the winner in the ‘Yummiest’ category of last weekend’s Cannon River SFA hotdish challenge!   (His salmon-pasta hot dish featured salmon he caught in Alaska working as a deck hand on a friend’s trawler).  Jim is one of the newest CVG participants, but his farming roots run deep.  His mom, Nancy, started the Faribault Farmers’ Market, initially intended as a means for local folks to sell extra produce from their home gardens, chickens, and even kittens.  As a kid, Jim sold apples from the family’s orchard as well as honey from his own beehives.  He, his wife and sons maintained a herd of beef cattle and sold string beans, sweet corn, and pumpkins while Jim had a 35-year career as a soil scientist and biologist.  Now ‘retired’ from that career, he is a full-time farmer and entrepreneur with major plans to expand Jirik Farms on the shores of Shields Lake.  Focusing on maple syrup production, he’s looking for maple sap from others to fully utilize the capacity of his evaporation system.  He’s also built a commercial kitchen on the farm, to be used for value-added maple syrup and honey products as well as rental space for other food producers.  Adding agritourism to the business is in the works as well.  His sons are still involved with the business: they direct-sell their beef, attend three farmers’ markets in the Twin Cities plus the Faribault market, and their maple syrup is in HyVee stores as well.  Retirement does not seem to be on the horizon for this dedicated farmer!