At Clayton's Produce, our goal is to bring our customers the highest quality, locally grown produce - hand picked daily at the peak of freshness!
Our Story
Ben knew from a young age that his passion in life was farming. Growing up on his parents ‘Promised Land Farm’ he was always fixing something, driving something, or planting something. The summer after high school graduation, Ben decided to plant 4 acres of sweet corn. That summer, he planted the corn, read everything he could about plant nutrition, fertilizing, growing degree days, plant population, etc. When the corn was ready, he would pick it every morning, transferring the fresh picked ears from 5 gallon buckets into the back of his Dad’s truck. Then he drove to town and sold until the day’s harvest was gone. By the end of the summer, a day’s worth of picking was sold in just a few hours. Once people finally tasted the difference between fresh picked, locally grown sweet corn compared to the week old corn trucked up from Florida that was found in the grocery stores, they couldn’t go back to the grocery store “field corn." The business grew from there, with Ben driving back from the U of M in Crookston to harvest and sell every day from the back of the family Ford. After ten years of trial and error, sweat, blood, and a few shed tears, Ben has all but mastered sweet corn farming in the “tundra” of Grand Rapids, MN.
Clayton’s Produce hasn’t changed too much from its roots – just a slightly obsessive kid trying to grow the best produce he can, whose family still helps plant, harvest, and sell. Ben's sister Kristen is a familiar face at the retail location (affectionately referred to as 'The Stand'), as well as Ben’s parents, Mike and Linnea, sisters Rebecca and April, his Grandma Carol, and his wife Tammy. However, the produce acreage has expanded from 4 acres in a small plot in his Dad’s hay fields to 30 acres of vegetables, all grown on the LaPlant road farm Ben grew up on. These days, the variety and quantity of the vegetables is staggering: 10,000 onions, 7,000 peppers, 2,000 tomato plants, plus winter squash, pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, zucchini, cabbage, watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, potatoes, beets, and of course whatever “new” crop Ben decides to try each year, as he's always eager to try something new - except for sushi...
We hope this website, which we design, maintain, and photograph for, gives you a better picture of the business you’re supporting. We have the best customers and we appreciate every one of you! Your support allows us to follow this crazy dream and Ben’s passion for farming.
Photo credit: Christine Vaneps