Bushel Boy, Minnesota’s local tomato grower, sold

Bushel Boy, the hydroponic grower of year-round tomatoes in the northern clime of Owatonna, Minn., has been sold to a new owner and operator.

Bushel Boy Farms President Chuck Tryon said the company was sold to Best Boy Farms on Friday.

“While this change is bittersweet, we are so thankful for our loyal customers and partners over the last 30+ years,” Tryon wrote in an email.

Best Boy will operate the facilities and greenhouses in Owatonna and Mason City, Iowa, and hire “a number of our former employees,” Tryon said.

Tryon did not disclose the sale price. He said Bushel Boy’s parent company, Rahr Corp., sold Bushel Boy as it tightens its focus around brewing.

Rahr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Best Boy Farms registered with the state of Minnesota in early April, according to the Secretary of State’s website.

Bushel Boy began as a greenhouse-grown tomato company in 1990 and had expanded in recent years to other fruits and vegetables, including strawberries and cucumbers. By 2016, the company grew 12 million pounds of vine-on and beefsteak tomatoes, mostly headed to supermarkets.

In 2018, Bushel Boy was purchased by Shakopee-based Rahr. By 2020, Bushel Boy had opened a new $35 million campus in Mason City.

But in recent years, indoor agriculture has become an increasingly competitive space. A year ago, Bushel Boy was ordered by state labor officials to pay nearly $200,000 in back wages and damages to 94 employees for unpaid overtime.

By Wednesday morning, the Bushel Boy website carried a message confirming the company was “no longer operating our greenhouses in Minnesota and Iowa.”

“While this chapter of our journey is coming to an end, we will be forever grateful to the employees and customers whose passion for premium, locally-grown produce made it possible,” the company’s post said.