Embrace change, don’t fear it; Mother Nature survives on change and adapting … but never forget and respect the old ways.

- Jeff Hafner, Owner of Early Morning Harvest

Jeff Hafner

Owner, Early Morning Harvest

Jeff Hafner, owner and organic farmer at Early Morning Harvest

A recreational thinker, Jeff is always coming up with new and innovative ways to do things, often while operating some kind of farm equipment. 

Over the years Early Morning Harvest was always a hobby; however, in late 2021, Jeff decided to move forward and transition into business full-time. When asked, Jeff will tell you his hobby now is “a hot shower and bed.”

When time allows, Jeff reads books. One of his favorites is a book by Colin Powell, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership.

Jeff also collects quotes that capture his eye or as a recreational thinker, he comes up with his own. Some of his favorites are:

  • Embrace change, don’t fear it; Mother Nature survives on change and adapting … but never forget and respect the old ways. – Jeff Hafner

  • Believe in people. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Respect all opinions, ideas, cultures, and people, especially if you disagree with them. – Jeff Hafner

Early Morning Harvest

Early Morning Harvest organic wheat field being harvested by combine.

Early Morning Harvest is nestled on an acreage where Jeff’s grandparents lived and farmed. The farm store and office were transformed from the barn where cows were milked and Jeff’s grandma created Grandma Mamie’s Cornbread recipe. 

In the early 1980s, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) bought the farm with the intent to construct a coal-fired electrical plant with railroad turnaround, but the plans were never developed. Instead, Jeff bought the land back and has been farming with his father, Earl, since 1993. The two transitioned their farmland to organic in 2000. 

Aquaponics Greenhouse
In 2010, the aquaponics greenhouse expanded from an idea to reality when the first tilapia arrived. Jeff “planned the greenhouse in his head while cutting hay” and soon after went to work repurposing existing structures to complete the greenhouse. 

The greenhouse has been home to growing experiments like mandarin orange trees and avocado trees (still in progress) to consistent favorites like kale and cherry tomatoes. The aquaponics greenhouse fluctuates with various growers working to keep the system in balance. When touring you may also catch a glimpse of the grain that is grown on the farm throughout the greenhouse. 

Stone Mill
The stone mill was bought and built in 2011.  Earl was making his cereal from the organic grains grown on the farm. His cereal contained buckwheat, rye, corn, and wheat. After a couple of years at farmers’ markets and several requests for his cereal blends and flour, Earl moved forward with the stone mill and now we offer more than fifteen different products from those grains.

Growth
On March 15, 2020, the world came to a halt as SARS-CoV-2 started to spread. Our mill went from an average of one order per week to 150 overnight. It seemed that everyone was starting to bake bread at home! We adjusted along with growing demand to keep the mill going.

Change is constant at the farm; in early 2022 Jeff and his wife Shannon purchased the distribution company That Iowa Girl and moved operations to the farm. That Iowa Girl operates on average eight routes a week and travels as far as Kansas City, MO, Minneapolis, MN, Sioux Falls, SD, and Burlington, IA. 

Plans are well underway for growth as Early Morning Harvest products are finding their way into more stores throughout Iowa, the Midwest, and nationally. 

Explore life on the farm.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Everything we do on the farm revolves around sustainability and regeneration:

    • Any produce not sold becomes food and scratch for chickens.

    • We combined our local delivery routes with a distribution company to cut fuel emissions and cost. This also helps us keep our prices low.

    • Mill byproducts (leftovers like bran after the sifting process) are mixed together and sold as livestock feed.

    • Manure from our cow herd is spread as fertilizer on the fields to replenish nutrient loss after the growing season.

    • Rotational planting of grain crops and produce crops allows the soil to rebalance its nutrients. This also helps prevent disease in crops.

    • We plant cover crops.

  • To us, being an organic farm means providing transparency to our customers that what we grow and sell is top quality and to show our commitment to sustainability and soil regeneration. We are inspected regularly to maintain our organic certification.

    By definition, being organic includes being non-GMO. However, we chose an independent third party to verify our non-GMO status with Non-GMO Project, the pioneer of non-GMO standards.

THE FARM

  • All of our products are whole-grain, as we don’t add or remove anything during the milling process. However, not all our products are whole wheat; during the sifting process more of the bran is removed to make our general purpose flour, bread flour, and pastry flour.

    There is more bran and fiber in our whole wheat products, which lend to a heartier more textured baked product.

  • We print a “best by” date of one year from the time it was bagged. Because our flour is unadulterated and whole-grain there are natural volatile oils that may interact with the storage environment. Some things that may affect the quality of flour include heat (next to the oven or top of the fridge) and light.

    Your flour will be best if stored in a cool, dark area so the natural grain oils remain fresh for as long as possible.

  • We plant red wheat varieties because they have a higher protein content. In doing so, we can offer a more consistent flour product so home bakers and restaurants alike can be confident that year after year their baked goods will be of similar consistency and quality.

  • Hard red wheat has a higher gluten content and is ground for our “better for bread” products. Gluten gives structure and a chewy texture to bread. Gluten also allows the bread to rise; more gluten means a taller loaf of bread.

    Soft red wheat has a lower gluten content and is ground to make our “better for pastry” products. Soft red wheat acts like it sounds; when baked it creates a soft texture for delicious crumbly cakes and flaky pastries.

  • We make our general purpose flour with a consistent ratio of hard red and soft red wheat, so every time you bake with our flour it is a consistent product.

  • At this time, we cannot offer gluten-free products as all our grain is ground in the same mill. Extensive modifications would have to be implemented to offer gluten-free corn products.

  • Notify us what store you’d like us to be in and we will try and find a way to get there.

THE PRODUCTS