SOLON — For more than a century, agriculture has been at the heart of Solon evolving alongside the town itself. From grain elevators to feed mills, family-run businesses like Solon Feed Mill and Krob F J & Co Elevator have adapted to shifting farming trends ensuring that agriculture remains a cornerstone of the community.

For Greg Kuennen, manager of Solon Feed Mill, his favorite part of agriculture is the people.

“I feel like people that are in and surround themselves with agriculture are typically pretty great people,” Kuennen said. “So I enjoy going to work, and I enjoy working with our customers.”

Solon Feed Mill, Inc., purchased by Kuennen’s parents in 1978, has expanded to two locations in Solon and Fairfax. Known as the home of Acorn II Feeds the mill provides a range of products including feed for large and small animals, show and custom feeds, pet food, supplies, and its well-known wild bird seed.

Kuennen, who has managed the business for 20 years, said the rapid growth of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, along with increasing urbanization in the Corridor, has transformed the customer base, shifting demand from large-scale industrial farms to smaller hobby farms.

“A lot of what we’ve seen over the years is somebody that maybe was a big hog farmer 15 years ago, whether the market pushed them out or the cities pushed them out, a lot of them just aren’t around anymore,” Kuennen said.

However, Kuennen said agriculture in the Corridor hasn’t disappeared but has evolved with smaller hobby farms becoming more common — prompting Solon Feed Mill to adapt alongside this shift.

“We’re doing a lot more small batches,” Kuennen said. “We may have had a customer that would get 20 ton of pig feed. Now, instead of one big customer, I might replace that with five smaller customers.”

With this shift in customers, Kuennen said Solon Feed Mill has seen growing demand for non-GMO feed as a more natural option for hobby farmers raising goats, sheep, and occasionally cattle.

“On the nutrition standpoint, people are trying to find better ways to keep their animals healthy, and a lot of times in a more natural way,” Kuennen said.

The shift toward hobby farming isn’t unique to Solon Feed Mill.

Mark Krob, manager of Krob F J & Co Elevator, another agricultural business in Solon, said he has also seen an increase in local small-scale farmers.

Founded in 1910 by Krob’s great-grandfather, Frank Joseph Krob, in Ely, the company expanded to Solon in 1928 establishing a long-standing presence in the region’s agricultural industry.

“It’s become part of who we are. We’re in our fourth generation,” Krob said. “It started out with just my greatgrandfather, and then he passed it down to his three sons and son in law, and then my father and my uncle after that, and then now it’s myself and two cousins.”

In addition to urban growth, Krob said the local landscape naturally favors smaller farms as hills and rivers limit the average farm size to around 600 acres. “They’re able to do things a little more like grandpa did it around here than probably in some other areas of the state,” Krob said. “There’s something nice about that.”

Krob said his family business primarily operates as a grain elevator, a facility that collects, stores, and markets grain from farmers, helping them manage their harvests and sell crops efficiently.

“We’re mainly centered on the local farmers — the corn, soybean, and livestock farmers in the area,” Krob said.

However, Krob said that while farms have gotten smaller, advancements in equipment and automation have significantly changed how work gets done.

“It’s become more and more mechanized,” Krob said. “My grandfather, when they loaded a truckload of corn, they would just throw it over the side of the truck with a scoop shovel. Now we use augers, conveyors, grain vacs, things of that nature.”

Many local hobby farmers have found success by tapping into niche markets, such as raising livestock for meat, to meet the growing demand from city customers seeking farm-to-table food, Krob said. “It’s risky. Takes effort,” Krob said.

“Got to learn a whole new business. But, I will say, there are quite a few small farms around here that are doing just that.”