Dietrich Orchards in Michigan: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Dietrich Orchards in Conklin, Michigan is a multi-generation family fruit business on land first settled in 1853, with more than 1,100 acres across its family enterprises and controlled-atmosphere storage for 800,000 bushels of apples. The family has also held leadership roles in the Michigan apple industry, and trade press has honored its service.
| Location | Conklin, Ottawa County, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Founded | Family settled the land in 1853 (per Good Fruit Grower) |
| Sectors | Apples; cherries; asparagus; packing, storage and shipping |
| Scale | More than 1,100 acres across the family enterprises, about 580 in apples; 800,000-bushel CA storage (Michigan Apple Committee, Good Fruit Grower) |
| Why it is elite | Seven-generation family, Ottawa County scale, industry leadership and a distinguished service award from trade press |
| Ownership | Family-owned; Dietrich Orchards and Leo Dietrich and Sons |
| Official website | Michigan Apple Committee grower profile for Dietrich Orchards |
History of Dietrich Orchards
Good Fruit Grower reports that the Dietrich family settled 80 acres in 1853, making this one of the longer family lineages in Michigan fruit. The farm moved from general farming into fruit, and brothers Al and Joe became fifth-generation growers. Their sons Ryan and Daniel are now partners, and Daniel's children represent the seventh generation.
In 1984 Al and Joe divided the operation with their cousins Mike and Jim, who farm as Leo Dietrich and Sons. The two branches still share a packing, storing and shipping business under the Dietrich Orchards name, a structure that lets separate households farm independently while sharing expensive infrastructure.
What Dietrich Orchards Grows and Raises
The Michigan Apple Committee's grower profile describes Ridgeview Orchards, run by Al and Joe, at 630 acres, and lists the combined enterprise at more than 1,100 acres. Apples are the core crop, with cherries and asparagus rounding out the rotation of fruit and vegetable work. Michigan overall harvests more than 1.2 billion pounds of apples a year according to the Michigan Farm Bureau.
The big storage asset is controlled-atmosphere capacity for 800,000 bushels, which lets the family hold fruit and sell across the season rather than at harvest-time lows. Fresh apples move through Riveridge Produce Marketing, a grower-owned marketer, and the family sells some through Ridgeview Produce. Family members have also served on the Michigan Apple Committee, the Michigan apple marketing board and Cherry Growers, Inc.
How Dietrich Orchards Makes Money
Fresh apple sales
The family packs and ships fresh apples, with a large share marketed through Riveridge Produce Marketing, according to Good Fruit Grower. Controlled-atmosphere storage lets the business supply buyers well after harvest.
Cherries and asparagus
Cherries and asparagus diversify the farm's cash flow and spread labor demand across the season. Joe Dietrich's role as a director of Cherry Growers, Inc. ties the farm to the cherry marketing network.
Packing and storage services
Dietrich Orchards operates as the packing, storing and shipping business for both family enterprises, which turns shared infrastructure into a dependable platform for the whole operation.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Dietrich Orchards
The clearest lesson is to invest in storage and marketing capacity, not only trees. Controlled-atmosphere rooms and a grower-owned marketing partner give an orchard pricing power that acreage alone does not.
A second lesson is how to split a family business without breaking it. The 1984 division kept shared packing and storage while letting each branch farm its own ground, and it has carried the farm through multiple generational handoffs. Time in industry committees also keeps growers informed about market and regulatory shifts.
An orchard that has outlasted seven generations of Dietrichs has surely heard every apple pun in the book, including a few from the Michigan Apple Queen's family tree. If you like farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes, farm.FM offers gentle fun for growers who keep one eye on the cooler and the other on the weather radar.
If the name is new to you, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site, with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers on the side. One of its regular writers keeps a whole archive of stories like that.
How to Contact Dietrich Orchards
Website: https://www.michiganapples.com/about/meet-the-growers/dietrich-orchards/
Public page listed as the best verified source for this operation, November 2026. No official farm website, address, phone or email was verified, so the Michigan Apple Committee grower profile is listed instead. Confirm current details with the operation before visiting or placing orders.
Dietrich Orchards Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Dietrich Orchards grower profile - Michigan Apple Committee profile with acreage and family
- Dietrichs receive distinguished service award - Good Fruit Grower coverage of the family
- Family farms: backbone of the Michigan industry - The Packer on Michigan apple family farms
- Michigan Farm Bureau agriculture facts - State apple and commodity facts
- USDA NASS 2022 Census, Michigan - State farm counts and sales
Dietrich Orchards FAQ
Where is Dietrich Orchards?
It is in Conklin, in Ottawa County, western Michigan.
How old is the farm?
Good Fruit Grower reports the Dietrich family settled the land in 1853, and the sixth and seventh generations are now involved.
What does Dietrich Orchards grow?
Apples, cherries and asparagus, with packing, storage and shipping of fruit.
How can I contact Dietrich Orchards?
Start with the Michigan Apple Committee grower profile and the committee's website, or the Riveridge Produce Marketing network that sells the fruit.
Dietrich Orchards pairs deep family roots with modern storage and marketing. See the Michigan state guide for the fruit belt's climate and markets, and browse the other Michigan profiles to compare how different operations scale.