How whiskey saved this Colorado family’s 118-year-old farm

Despite growing up on a multigenerational farm in eastern Colorado Stephanie and Felicia Ohnmacht never planned to go into the family business From a young age their parents insisted they enroll in college and pursue careers outside of agriculture in fields that weren t subject to the whims of Mother Nature Whiskey Sisters Supply owners Felicia left and Stephanie Ohnmacht Photo by Leah Pottinger Photography Provided by Felicia Ohnmacht They both did for a while After attending the University of Colorado in Boulder Stephanie the middle of three children went into the telecommunications industry and Felicia the youngest worked in project management for a semiconductor company For a time the family estate in Burlington called Gergen Farms felt like a relic from their past that they d have to handle once their parents passed We were pretty disconnected from it Felicia declared We toss ourselves under the bus because we don t know how to drive a tractor But in the two sisters returned to the family farm with a bottle of whiskey and Felicia s words a hairbrained idea to sell local grains to the increasing number of craft distilleries popping up in Colorado The two founded Whiskey Sisters Supply to help turn local corn wheat and rye into locally made spirits They had no idea that they would save their family s heritage in the process The Ohnmachts ancestors first laid roots on the Eastern Plains around when their great-grandfather s wagon broke down near the boundary of Colorado and Kansas As legend has it he threw down his hat stomped around and decided this spot was the perfect place to end his journey west The original homestead still resides there though it s undergone a great number of additions and renovations over the years Felicia declared Particular of the original wagon wheels have been repurposed as light fixtures inside Stephanie Felicia and their eldest sister Renee grew up in a separate house built next door to the original homestead at the edge of the -acre plot The two youngest girls who are three years apart were known to fight often in their youth but you wouldn t be able to tell by the jesting rapport they have now For more than years Gergen Farms main crops were wheat and corn the latter of which is what landed the Whiskey Sisters Supply their first client Al Laws of Laws Whiskey House in Denver Truthfully Stephanie declared it was a conversation with Laws who was looking for locally-grown grains that inspired the entire concept for her company We had locked down all of our small grains for flavor but we couldn t find corn No one would sell us local corn commented Laws After meeting Stephanie and distilling a meager test batches Laws Whiskey House became the Whiskey Sisters first client even before they inked their brand name Ten years and innumerable pounds of corn later Laws Whiskey House still uses the plump and sweet grain from Burlington We like to do business with people that we like and have great ethical backgrounds Laws stated We consider them like family Once Whiskey Sisters Supply was up and running its owners let local distillers dictate what to plant That s how they ended up with robust rye fields much to the surprise of their neighbors People were very skeptical of us growing rye Felicia commented Rye in our area is considered a weed It s hard to control If you get too much of it in your wheat the co-op will dock you and you will get less money for your product At present the company sells a variety of grains including blue corn red winter wheat oats and gluten-free options like millet and sorghum to more than two dozen Colorado spirits makers from the Front Range to the Western Slope The farm also grows particular edibles such as kidney beans and popcorn Felicia who oversees the farm s day-to-day operations declared that Whiskey Sisters Supply accounts for about a third of the grain allocation The majority of the roughly million pounds it harvests each year is sold to the local co-op ranchers and feed lots Still Whiskey Sisters Supply helped bring Gergen Farms back from the brink of bankruptcy unbeknownst to Stephanie and Felicia at the time they got started A wheat field at Gergen Farms in Burlington Colorado on Wednesday July Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Thinking back to childhood the sisters could sometimes tell things were tenuous especially when storms were in the forecast They recall joining their grandmother in a ritual of praying around burning palms clutching rosaries in hopes the hail would circumvent their fields But it wasn t until when Felicia started managing the farm that she realized the finances were in dire straits We did not sit around the table drinking whiskey figuring out how we can make more money for the farm noted Stephanie who also still works in telecommuncations We joke that grandma had been dead for almost exactly five years at this point so we needed particular divine intervention on that one The fact that whiskey saved the farm is ironic to say the least Alcohol was forbidden in the Ohnmacht household a standard set by their grandfather a churchly man and carried on by their mother Plus their father was the deacon of the local Catholic congregation all the more reason to maintain a saintly lifestyle When Stephanie and Felicia first pitched their mom on the idea of selling grain to distilleries she explicitly rejected the proposition Having grandpa s grain in booze seemed against how she was raised Stephanie reported The ever-tenacious sisters however continued with their plan anyway It wasn t until they presented the matriarch with a plan to sell grain for a test run with Laws Whiskey House and the corresponding check that she came onboard Jared Kelley sits in the combine at Gergen Farms in Burlington Colorado on Wednesday July Photo by AAron Ontiveroz The Denver Post Related Articles Colorado s Olta whisky a rarity in the macho world of Mexican spirits New Denver whiskey bar restaurant focused on American single malt Colorado s largest beer festival is now serving liquor Over the last decade Whiskey Sisters Supply has grown not only its customer roster but also its mission The company has embraced its role as an advocate for local farmers and helps broker deals between metropolitan distilleries in other states like Texas and Utah and their local growers Part of that evolution was admittedly born out of necessity Whiskey Sisters Supply has weathered the same COVID-boom and post-pandemic bust cycles as the spirits industry on the whole and began courting new sources of revenue to sustain its operations But now that the women are reattached to the farm they plan to see it through We continue to encouragement the best we can where we can as people slow down production or close their doors or sell their business Stephanie disclosed But we re here for the long haul The farm s not going anywhere We re not going anywhere Felicia added Subscribe to our new food newsletter Stuffed to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox