The Qualeys were one of the first families to settle Benedicta. The land they cleared and began farming and raised their families on is still being farmed today, five generations later.
Formerly potato ground, the land is now home to the Benedicta Grain Co., operated by fourth generation Andrew Qualey, his daughter Hannah and her husband Jake Dyer.
The family venture began in 2008 with 34 acres in Patten grown with certified organic barley to supply the burgeoning organic dairy industry in Maine. Today, 200 acres are planted to rotations of grains, legumes, oilseeds, and beans with a goal of growing it all to a quality seed grade product.
When they first began growing grain, Jake noted that they worked with what they had on hand for equipment, which consisted of a grain drill, plow, and combine. Since then they have invested in their infrastructure to include grain dryers, seed cleaners and proper storage. This investment has paid off in a higher quality product that allows them to explore new markets.
While they each have a role in the business, Jake tends to manage the crop rotations and determine what crop and variety they will grow. He also works at marketing their products and enjoys that aspect. It’s nice to market a product that he is connected to and knowledgeable about on so many levels. He also likes the fact that in marketing, you need to “think outside the box.”
That may include having to educate buyers with how to market the product too. He also credits a number of organizations that have worked hard to bring the organic grain industry to its own place on the map and make it a growing and vibrant industry.
Even though the grain company began in 2008, Jake and his family lived in Orono where he managed UMaine’s Witter Farm, commuting to the family farm in Benedicta each weekend to work.
It wasn’t until 2015, when Jake took a job as an agronomist and crop development specialist with the Maine Potato Board that he, his wife Hannah and their two children moved back to the County.
Wearing the two hats of working in the potato industry and being a farmer himself has been interesting. Jake’s work with the Maine Potato Board deals with research, variety trials, and consulting with County farmers. Outside of that role, he gets to farm his own land and crops and importantly, provide a family farm experience for his own children.
As Jake described it when talking about his family, “The nucleus is in Benedicta. It’s fun to farm ground that’s been in a family for several generations and to know that it always been farmed by that family.” And who knows? Maybe someday Jake and Hannah’s children will carry on that tradition as sixth generation farmers.
For more information, visit Benedicta Grain Co. on Facebook.
