Jul 6, 2010
Northern Michigan farm doing ‘Royally’ well

Patrick and Sara McGuire have taken an unconventional approach to success with Royal Farms. Photo by Derrek Sigler

By Derrek Sigler, Assistant Editor

When Patrick McGuire proposed to his high school sweetheart Sara in 1995, he hadn’t really thought too much about what he was going to do to support a family. A graduate of Ferris State University, he was working for GMC but had always been drawn back to northwest Michigan, where he and his wife had grown up. She too felt the draw, and soon they began looking for opportunities. An opportunity was what they found.

Patrick had spent much of his youth working summer jobs on area farms. Even though he was in no position to buy a farm, he approached a farmer in Ellsworth, Mich., about the notion of leasing his farm. That farmer took a day to think about it, and the next day not only informed Patrick that he agreed but also let him know that 796 fruit trees were on the way and would need to be planted.

“I didn’t know the first thing about planting orchards,” Patrick said. “I called everyone I could think of for help and they were all nice enough to help out and get me started, even though they didn’t have to.”

From these humble beginnings, Patrick and Sara, now married, set out to become commercial cherry growers. They named their new venture after a suggestion from Patrick. He wanted to name the business Royal Farms, in honor of Sara’s reign as National Cherry Festival Queen.

“We had a plan to end up with 600-800 acres of tart cherries and work solely in the commercial packing industry,” Patrick said. “2002 changed all of that. We had a mix of the worst possible conditions for growing and ended up with no crops harvested. It got us looking hard at other avenues for income.”

The 2002 season had them looking for other options. Where the disastrous season led them was the fresh market.

“We started looking into farm markets with vegetables and other options,” Sara said. “We started with our own stand just down the road and it grew and grew until we ended up here with our current location.”

Sara had finished her marketing degree at Michigan State University before the couple married, and she has put that education to good use by taking the reins of the farm market. The McGuires added a greenhouse, a pond and a corn maze among other attractions outside of the market. They also expanded to include ice cream, canned goods and other products to the store, as well as a bakery.

“We lucked out with the bakery,” Sara said. “My sister-in-law, Erin Veliquette, trained as a baker in Denmark and has really hit a home run for us with our customers. We’re widely known for the excellent creations she makes in the kitchen here.”

In addition to cherries in both sweet and tart varieties, the McGuires have apples and peaches available.

“The peaches have been a huge success with our local markets and a surprise hit for us,” Sara said. “Most people have been shocked to see them, saying that they didn’t think peaches could grow this far north. We’ve had great luck with them, too.”

It might seem a little unconventional to try growing peaches in the northern reaches of the lower peninsula of Michigan, but doing things unconventionally has done all right for the McGuires.

“Unconventional” fits their growing techniques for apples as well.

“I planted what I call a hybrid vertical axis system,” Patrick said. “I’ve got a three-wire trellis with 500 to 600 trees per acre. The main difference is that I use quite vigorous rootstocks that normally wouldn’t do well with a medium-high density system. The way I see it, they grow well in our climate and if I have to eventually push out every other tree, by the time I have to do that another apple variety will be the hot seller and I’ll be switching them out anyway.”

Patrick said that 80 percent of his apple crop is in Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Zestar and CandyCrisp. They have 800 acres on their farm, with roughly 350 acres currently planted. This year, they’ll plant 1,500 trees in what they consider an “off year” for planting.

“It’s all about cash flow,” Patrick said. “You have to ask yourself, what can you afford to do? What can your land do? How much labor can you afford to maintain?”
Patrick hopes to eventually split his fruit crops into thirds, with sweet and tart cherries and apples. He also hopes to balance things out between fresh sales and commercial sales. It was this drive to expand that helped them build a place for sorting, packing and storage. That too had an unconventional twist to it.

“We had this old grove with a big hill running through it,” Sara said. “We took and built our barn facility right into the side of the hill, and then piled extra dirt on top. By being partially underground, it helps keep utility costs way down and keeps the storage room at a constant temperature.”

The McGuires are proving that being driven and making good decisions pays off in the end.

“Don’t start anything without an exit plan or two,” Patrick said. “With every new thing, consider how it will affect the entire business and the future plans for the business.”




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