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Story and photos by Dave Alexander, Publisher
When a flight took us to the Midwest, in the vicinity of Rietveld Equipment, we took the opportunity for another road trip. A new showroom, built to display and demo the company’s post-harvest equipment, was available for touring.
We were able to see brand new machines set in place, not yet wired. But visitors will soon be able to test drive this same equipment as potatoes are washed, sorted and boxed on site.
Run by father and son John and Nick Rietveld, the company sells individual pieces of equipment, but can also design and build complete packing facilities.
The Rietveld family has grown onion sets for five generations on their own or rented property about 60 miles south of Chicago. Due to an ever-decreasing retail market, Canadian competition, increasing input costs and lack of labor, the Rietvelds made the tough decision in 2023 to quit growing onion sets.
They continue to grow sweet corn and sell it at their own farm stand, along with salsa and other locally grown produce. They even sell some imports – namely, Vidalia onions – at the stand. Nick said people drive from up to two hours away to buy their corn and salsa, and they sell as many as 6,000 ears of corn a day.
Eliminating onion cultivation from their farm’s day-to-day routine has opened up more time for John and Nick to spend on Rietveld Equipment. They sell, service and install top-notch machines from European manufacturers including Meconaf, Allround, Upmann, VHM, IPLA, Teneco and Intec.
Follow along with these photos for a tour of this new facility in Bourbonnais, Illinois.
