Feb 28, 2025

Idaho Gold: Soil health big focus of women-owned sweet corn seed grower

Favorable growing conditions, including climate, altitude, degree days and water, help produce longer growing seasons ideal for crop production for Chris Gross Farms, a diversified southwest Idaho farm.

The Wilder, Idaho, farm grows sweet corn seed and other crops. The farm began employing more soil friendly practices in the late 2010s when weed pressure followed a field’s soil inconsistency, high water saturation and infiltration issues, said owner Chris Gross.

To prevent soils from losing micronutrients through chemical focused growing practices, the woman-owned and -operated farm close to the Oregon border turned to biologically oriented growing practices.

“The biggest shift we’re seeing is we’re more focused on soil health than we have been in the past, because we begin to see the quality of food coming from our fields,” Gross said. “We want to be sure that all the micronutrients and the food density for nutrition are there for consumer consumption. If I take care of the biology of my soil, then that biology of the soil will take care of my plant.”

Soil practices include minimal tilling, crop rotation and cover crops, producing positive results in soil quality and evenness. Though a field may have four different soil types, the farm waters consistently compared to the past, when standing water, puddles and water runoff occurred.

Growing more than half a dozen crops, including popcorn, field corn, mint and dry beans, Chris Gross Farms aims for three- to five-year rotation spans. Its cover cropping has employed two- and three-way blends including rye, triticale and winter peas. In the future, the farm may use six and eight-way blends to aid soil health.

Soil strength

“Every crop you put in is going to do something different to your soil,” Gross said. “If we have a capacity to change our cropping systems every year, then our soil can recover or adapt to whatever that new plant is and what it provides or takes away from the soil. It gives us a much better perspective on soil health, less disease and less probability of a fungal or bacteria infection.”

Spider mites are the biggest pest concern. The farm intensifies scouting after wheat harvest, when mites jump to other fields seeking food sources. Because of its dry climate, overall disease pressure isn’t alarming. However, constant rain can cause black spots that collapse corn stocks.

With less land available, a big challenge is maintaining pure isolations from neighboring crops. Untimely high winds can jeopardize pollination. As popcorn stalks are higher than seed corn stalks, mechanical detasseling is required. For seed corn, crews may work fields five to seven times in two weeks to ensure female tassels are pulled. Detasseling timing is critical in maintaining seed purity. Complete protection of a growing environment for proper pollination is important growing sweet corn seed.

Gross grows popular sweet corn seed varieties, including Ambrosia, Troubadour, and Xanadu, for seed companies like Crookham Co. in nearby Caldwell, Idaho.

From sports to farming

After earning a business administration degree at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, Gross received a master’s in sports psychology from Oregon State. Originally planning to return to the family potato and wheat farm, which provided her a work ethic growing up, Gross was a college admissions administrator, coached softball at a George Fox, marketed pitching machines and batting cages, and worked for a sports lighting company in Florida.

In 2012, Gross returned to replace a farm manager and help her brother Ray work the mint harvest. She began growing corn seed in 2015. Gross took over the farming operation when Ray, who also farmed potatoes, died in 2017 of sheath sarcoma, a rare cancer.

Gross carried the legacy of Ray’s farm before buying out her sister-in-law and establishing her own farm in 2020.

Her oldest brother Doug helped her transition into owning her own farm. She learned much about growing practices and relationship management from her brothers and her dad.

“You don’t farm as if you are on an island; you farm as if you are part of a huge community, and you rely on the give-and-take from the community to survive,” Gross said.

Being raised on a farm helped Gross. “I returned to ag later in life than most farmers, and even though I grew up and worked on our family farm, nothing prepares you for serving in the key leadership position with all the decision making and stress,” Gross said. “He (Doug) has helped me through those growing pains.” Gross’ sports retail work, in a majority male field, prepared her as a woman in the male-dominated farming industry.

“You understand there are benefits to being a female, and you understand there are restrictions in being a female,” she said. “There are things I might be able to get as a female that my brother doesn’t get the opportunity for, and vice-versa. It’s understanding that there are certain advantages you have and taking advantage of that if it’s being offered.”

Women aren’t always included in conversations, Gross said, noting how, in sports, for example, there’s something about guys who like to be around other guys talking sports, while women often like to be around other women in their conversations. “That social component can sometimes leave you on the margin, but I’m okay with that,” she said. “I don’t think it really affects the way I farm. I don’t think I make any adaptations for it at all. But is it different? Absolutely.”

Female farmers sometimes must prove themselves.

“I feel like you have to prove your credibility as a female,” Gross said.

When Gross initially returned to the farm, she said she would get treated differently at the local parts store until she proved she knew the correct part for the right piece of machinery and the part’s function.

“But, once you gain that respect, it seems to stick around,” Gross said. “The loyalty in an ag community is huge. And once you earn respect in the ag community, then that loyalty for your respect continues on. Initially, there was a lot of resistance to me talking about wanting to do and try different things.”

As growers and their families craft succession plans, Gross said the industry might see fewer sons wanting to farm but perhaps more daughters interested.

“It is more of an open field to be succession,” she said. “Farming has to be a passion. It’s not tied in with your gender at all. It has to be a passion that you want to work hard to make a difference in your community. Maybe that’s the one thing you might see in a woman farmer. We’ve got three in our community, and all of us are very much interested in giving back to what we see as our community’s needs. You’ll see that nationwide.”

Photo above: Detasseling at Chris Gross Farms.

—  Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor