18 SOURCE | Fall 2022

Karen Jones , GROWMARK Youth and Young Producer Specialist kjones @ growmark . com

Scott Lakin harvests peppermint near Fair Oaks , Indiana .

Driving down a country road in northern Indiana , you might expect to smell many things – fresh cut grass , tilled soil , maybe a whiff of the local dairy farm . But in late summer , you may smell something that surprises you : the scent of peppermint .

Gregg Kanne has been growing mint near Fair Oaks , Indiana , since 1994 , when he started working with his father-in-law to distill the oil used for flavoring in many familiar products , including toothpaste and candy .

Peppermint is native to Europe and is a perennial , meaning it continues to grow for more than one season . Kanne , along with son Griffin and several others , grow peppermint in a rotation , producing mint for three to four years before returning to corn and / or soybeans .

“ There are many diseases that affect peppermint ,” he said . “ Normally the first year of mint is the best , and we ’ ve found that four years is about the point where it makes sense to rotate to something else for six to eight years .”

Mint propagates via rhizomes , which are usually planted in the early spring or late fall while they are dormant . Harvest starts in late July or early August . The mint is cut in the field and transferred into custombuilt wagons outfitted with pipes in the floor . When the wagon is full , it returns to the on-farm distillery and 300-degree steam is pumped through , which releases the oil from the leaves .

The oil and steam mixture travels back to cooling tanks , where the temperature is reduced to around 115 degrees , which is the optimal temperature for the oil to separate from the water . As the oil rises to the top , it is siphoned off into large barrels where it is stored until it is picked up for further processing . The water returns to the system to be reheated and the cycle starts all over again .

“ It takes about an hour and a half to two hours from the time the wagon enters the still until it ’ s done ,” Kanne said .

Once the oil is extracted from the leaves , the wagon returns to the field to be emptied and refilled with freshly cut mint .

The waste product is used as ground cover and natural fertilizer , worked into the field following harvest .

“ We are set up to distill 12 wagons at a time ,” Kanne said . “ We started with four and expanded from there . Depending on weather conditions , we can usually finish our harvest in about six weeks , just before our corn and soybeans are ready to go .”

Mint is sold through brokers via contracts , which are set in early summer . Kanne tries to adjust acreage each year according to the contracts available to him . An average yield is 70 pounds of oil per acre .

Scott Lakin began working for Kanne in 1992 while he was in high school , transitioning to full time employment in 2000 . In 2008 , Lakin went back to his family farm and started farming row crops on his own , while continuing to grow peppermint with the Kannes .

“ I was intrigued by the challenge of a unique crop , and took advantage of the opportunity to run with it ,” he said . “ Gregg and his father-in-law taught me a