About Us
Who We Are
About Rock
Rock Kietzer is an owner and President of Kietzer Farms, Inc. He began farming for himself at the age of 15 and has been self-employed ever since. He is truly a pioneer in the specialty crop industry. Out of operational necessity, he began growing containerized tomato seedlings in 1981. Rock was the first nursery to provide plants to the Heinz Company. Over the course of his career, he helped popularize containerized vegetable seedlings for field production in the Midwest. Today, Rock’s focus has remained consistent; Grow better plants for his customers.
Eric Kietzer is an owner and Vice President of Kietzer Farms, Inc. Eric has grown up in the greenhouse business and in 2009 joined the Company full-time. He has been instrumental in expanding KFI’s capabilities and product offerings. Keeping up with technological improvements in agriculture is important. Eric’s focus is that all improvements can be leveraged to customer success.
Long History in Agriculture:
Kietzer Farms path to becoming a plant nursery didn’t result from design, but from one farmer trying to solve a problem and improve his crop. The Kietzer Family has been in involved in specialty crop agriculture since Charles Kietzer emigrated with his family from Germany in the 1880s. In over a century and a half they have produced tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe, pickles, cherries, grapes, apples, raspberries, popcorn, strawberries, peppers, and peaches. In 1965, Rock Kietzer started out on his own growing cucumbers for market and pickles for processing companies Pilgrim’s Farm, Flam Pickle and Freestone Pickle. His first few years were fortunate, and profits seeded new equipment and further ventures in grapes, cherries, tomatoes and popcorn. In the early 70s, Rock started growing processing tomatoes for Heinz, ADI, Burnette’s Canning and Campbell’s soup. Frustrated by the inconstancy of bare root plants originating from the south, Rock was determined to find a better way to achieve consistent performance in the field. In 1980, Rock convinced a local nurseryman to start his tomato plants in a 162-count tray at his greenhouse. That year it was abundantly clear to Rock that he was onto something that made a difference. He had only one problem. The local nurseryman didn’t want to grow them ever again. Without another alternative, Rock was forced to grow the plants himself. In 1981, Rock built his first greenhouses. Rock produced extra plants as insurance against his lack of experience. His success that year was better than expected. Rock gave his extra plants away to other growers. Those growers turned into customers. Heinz chose to purchase the plants directly for their growers. By 1987, the greenhouse business was in conflict with the farm’s field operations. Rock gave up profitable field operation to focus on the greenhouse full time. KFI has expanded into many other crop categories other than tomatoes. Today they produce onions, cabbage, peppers, watermelon, celery, tobacco, lettuce, cucumber, cantaloupe, and fruiting trees. Kietzer Farm now starts over 100 million plants a year. Rock’s son, Eric has partnered in the nursery business and is continuing the family tradition in specialty crop agriculture.
Why Use KFI?
Professional Scouting
Dedicated Scouts survey every greenhouse all day every day. The crop protection team tailors an IPM plan for every order.
Professional Germination
With custom growing media, variable tray filling, temperature-controlledwater tunnels, multiple germination rooms, we strive to “beat the label.”
Professional Growing Staff
Our team of growers ensures that every order is treated individually every day.
