Sweet Success in the Great Lakes State

America is full of business success stories, both small and large, where entrepreneurs worked hard and persevered their way to success. 

 Henry Ford grew up on a farm in Michigan and worked for a company run by Thomas Edison before borrowing $28,000 to establish the Ford Motor Company. 

 Ray Kroc dropped out of school as a teenager and spent 17 years selling paper cups before he got the break that eventually led to him launching the McDonald’s fast-food empire.

 With a long family history in farming, dentist Dan Zettel sought help in starting an apple orchard, but ran into a proverbial brick wall. 

 “When we told big national retailers that I was only going to start with 1,200 trees and a little 10-acre spot, they literally turned their back and did not want to discuss fertilizer, any inputs or anything for my orchard,” he remarked.

 Undeterred, Dan eventually made the right connections, formulated a successful strategy and planted apple trees. His Edwards Township orchard is now thriving, and his rich red honeycrisp apples are in high demand. 

 Several experts guided Dan to success, including Redox Agronomist, Eric Massey. 

 “I wouldn’t be in the apple business today without the help from Redox and Eric Massey,” Dan said. “It’s really interesting the components that we needed and finding the right nutritional plan. When we did soil samples, we found out we were basically farming beach sand out here. We had very low humus; we had very low everything. With the Redox program … we are pulling color on these honeycrisp apples like I’ve never seen. We get dark, dark red apples. Ours come up with this crazy red color.”

 Dan and his wife, Melinda, are both dentists, but still find time to work on the farm. They have a built-in labor force with their four children, supplemented by many friends and community members, including a retired state trooper, electrician, and mechanical engineer, who help during harvest. 

 The Zettels have given back to their community in meaningful ways, including establishing a massive and modern rec center to provide a constructive and fun outlet for kids and others fitness minded residents. 

 Michigan is third in the US in apple production, with more than one billion pounds produced every year.