A John Deere Publication

Two persons arranging flowers at a stall with various blooms on display.

Jerilyn and Richard Mellencamp spend summer Saturdays at the farmers' market selling fragrant bouquets grown on the edge of their row crop farm. The business is named Laurilyn Farms after Jerilyn and her sister Lauren.

Agriculture, Farm Operation January 01, 2025

Corn & Blooms

A wish for more bouquets turns into a new farm legacy.

by Katie Knapp

Richard Mellencamp's family has farmed near Seymour, Ind., since the 1850s after immigrating from Germany. In the mid 2010s, a plot twist reshaped their family's agriculture legacy.

Richard, the youngest generation currently farming, was also working off the farm at Cummins headquarters in nearby Columbus, Ind., at the time. Engineering by day and farming with his dad and uncle by night left little time to buy his wife Jerilyn flowers as often as she wished.

She eventually took matters into her own hands, and planted several sweet-scented flowers behind their house. The gift-giving mishap has now blossomed into a six-figure enterprise and offers fresh perspective to the family's corn and soybean acres.

Blooming business. In 2017, the couple expanded the small flower patch into several acres and built three greenhouses. Jerilyn says by adding varieties and markets along the way, they consistently doubled their income each year. They now sell directly to consumers at farmers' markets, offer a subscription delivery service, wholesale to area florists, and cater to her sister's floral design business.

"Getting into wholesale is tough, but we have found a niche selling to other flower farms who can't grow enough on their own," Richard says, explaining the challenges of a market that often favors consistency over local quality.

Quality, however, is where Mellencamps shine.

They approach flower farming like any other row crop: maximizing yield by efficiently managing inputs and enhancing fertility.

"We don't have the constraints some other flower farmers do, like land or water. Our issue is more about having enough manpower," Jerilyn says. "Last year we probably only harvested 75% of what we could have."

The staff they do have helps plant, harvest, prep for customers, and market. To keep growing, Mellencamps will need to hire seasonal workers, likely from other flower growing regions around the world. This will allow the tenured team to focus more on sales.

Above. Richard Mellencamp grew up wanting to be an engineer, always thinking of how to make things better and more durable. Unwittingly diversifying into floriculture is a way he and his wife are setting their otherwise more traditional corn and soybean farm up to support the next generation, including son Gus and daughter Merritt.

Growing gains. Jerilyn's desire for flowers from Richard has now blossomed beyond expectation.

"Without his mechanical and agronomy background, there is no way we would have been able to scale like we have," she says.

In fact, not bringing home those early marriage bouquets is turning into a win-win for Richard. He says managing the flowers closely has improved his pest management and soil fertility techniques across the rest of the farm, too.

"Because the flowers are such high-value crops, I watch the micronutrient levels and pest pressure very closely. This mindset helps the corn and soybeans," he says. "For example, having dealt with aphids in the cut flowers before, we knew how to handle them in the corn this year."

Figuring out all the variables is what he likes most about farming. "You have to be a marketer, an agronomist, and sometimes even a therapist," he laughs.

Another unexpected gain of diversifying into floriculture, Richard says, is how their children—who are all under five years old—can be involved. "The equipment we use for the flowers is so much smaller than for the row crops. It is much easier and safer for the kids to be running around as we work."

The cash crops will remain the farm's main venture, but Richard and Jerilyn think the way the flower farm is flourishing will open more doors for their children in the future.

"We call our peony patch the college fund," Jerilyn says, as she carries in some of the first blooms from the 800 peonies they planted in 2022. "When they are mature, we should be able to harvest 30 to 50 stems from each plant and sell them for $3 or $4 each."

At this point, Richard is glad his wife didn't want more bacon. ‡