The Birkett Mills: Milling Through American History Since 1797

A Q&A with Kyle Gifford in the Buckwheat Capital of America

Here in the Finger Lakes Countrysides, history isn’t something you go look at behind glass. Around here, history still shows up to work every day- and nowhere is that more true than at The Birkett Mills, which has been milling grain along the Keuka Outlet in downtown Penn Yan, NY, since 1797. That’s the same year George Washington wrapped up his presidency!

As America celebrates its 250th birthday this year, we can’t think of a better story to tell. Two hundred twenty-nine years- through the Erie Canal, the Industrial Revolution, two world wars, and the gluten-free boom- one mill in our small town has kept its stones turning and helped earn Penn Yan its title as the Buckwheat Capital of America.

We sat down with Kyle Gifford of The Birkett Mills to talk about how the mill has evolved, why buckwheat is having a well-deserved moment, the family farmers behind every bag of flour, and what he hopes people will say when the mill celebrates its own 250th. Pull up a chair.

The Birkett Mills has been milling grain in Penn Yan since 1797. How has the mill evolved across more than two centuries- and how did Penn Yan become known as the “Buckwheat Capital of America”?

The story starts with the Wagener family, the founding family of Penn Yan, who built a grist mill along the outlet in 1797; with a lumber mill on the opposite bank run by a second brother. A grist mill was exactly what it sounds like: whatever crop you brought in (corn, wheat, rye) they’d grind it on millstones into flour or meal. Much of that early history comes courtesy of the Yates County History Center, which has been preserving the county’s stories since 1860 and is well worth a visit while you’re downtown.

The original mill burned in 1823, and the building standing at 1 East Main Street today has been there since 1824; decades before the conventional roller mill system was even introduced in the late 1800s.

And the buckwheat? That chapter starts even earlier.

“Buckwheat came over with the Dutch in the early 1600s- it’s actually how it got its name,” Kyle says. “It’s poorly named, because it has nothing to do with wheat. It’s a seed (a pseudocereal) more closely related to rhubarb than anything. It’s always an adventure explaining to customers that it’s actually gluten-free even though it’s got the word ‘wheat’ in it.”

The crop filtered up the Hudson Valley and west as New York was settled, and it took to the Finger Lakes’ northern climate and marginal soils. Before the Erie Canal opened up the Midwest, this region was, as Kyle puts it, “the original breadbasket of the country”- and buckwheat grew well here, so it grew everywhere here.

Today, two mills operate under that one 1824 roof- one for wheat, one for buckwheat- with close to 10,000 acres of buckwheat contracted with growers this year alone! The rye, spelt, and barley of the grist mill era are long gone; narrowing down to wheat and buckwheat is exactly how The Birkett Mills became one of the largest buckwheat mills in the world.

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, how do you see The Birkett Mills’ story fitting into the larger story of American agriculture and small-town industry?

“We’re at 1 East Main Street- the town kind of grew up around the outlet, and the mill had to be by the water power,” Kyle says. The five- or six-mile stretch of what’s now the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail was once lined with tens (if not hundreds) of businesses: paper mills, saw mills, and other mills, including the Dresden mill where the Birkett family name entered the story in the late 1800s.

“I always think it’s so fascinating that we can trace our roots back to the presidency of George Washington,” Kyle says.

But the American small-town industry story isn’t just about age; it’s about the connection between the mill and the land around it. The Birkett Mills buys roughly 60 million pounds of grain each year on the wheat side, plus another 5 million pounds or so of buckwheat; money that flows straight back into the local farm economy.

“The farmers rely on us, but we certainly rely on them even more,” Kyle says. “For such a small town, such a small county, it really punches above its weight class on the farming side. You’ve got farmers here who are known all over the country. I can’t tell you how many times I’m on the phone with somebody from the Midwest who does organic farming, and they ask if we know Klaas Martens. Everyone knows Klaas.”

What makes your stone-ground buckwheat and gluten-free products different from what shoppers might find from other grain brands today?

Pick up a bag of organic buckwheat at the grocery store (even in another company’s packaging) and there’s a good chance it was milled right here in Penn Yan.

So what sets the mill itself apart? People, proof, and focus.

People: The Birkett Mills runs on 40 team members carrying decades and decades of milling experience.

Proof: The mill has invested heavily in new cleaning equipment and color sorters, and it tests its gluten-free products to 10 parts per million- half the FDA’s 20 ppm limit. That’s harder than it sounds on a working farm, where no one has a truck, combine, or storage bin reserved only for buckwheat. The mill is also part of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) program under the Global Food Safety Initiative, with third-party audits every year (unannounced every third year) and scores of 97 and 98 out of 100. In a 200-plus-year-old building, no less. “It’s beautiful, but it has its challenges,” Kyle laughs. “That’s a credit to our team.”

Focus: “On our buckwheat mill, we only do buckwheat,” Kyle says. “We’re not trying to do a lot of different things. We try to do one thing very well.”

Buckwheat is often described as an earth-friendly crop, and your wheat flours are New York State Grown & Certified. How do sustainability and responsible sourcing show up in how Birkett Mills grows and mills grain today?

“We kind of joke about how lucky we got that buckwheat was what they decided to grow here,” Kyle admits. Two centuries ago, farmers grew it because it thrived without much fertilizer or inputs, had a short season, and harvested easily. Twenty years ago, the mill got lucky again when buckwheat turned out to be naturally gluten-free. And now, as shoppers care more about soil health and the footprint of their food, buckwheat is ahead of the curve once more:

• It’s a great cover crop, planted in late June to mid-July on ground that just came off wheat- or might otherwise sit bare and vulnerable to erosion

• About 90 days later, it comes off as a cash crop the mill buys back at a guaranteed price

• It grows fast and canopies quickly, which naturally suppresses weeds

• It’s good at putting phosphorus back into the soil, setting up whatever crop comes next

On the wheat side, which Kyle says “probably doesn’t get enough love”- the mill has carved out a niche in identity-preserved wheat, including grain from New York State Grown & Certified farms. That state program incentivizes school districts, SUNY colleges, and other institutions to buy New York ingredients, which lets the mill pay farmers a premium and lets buyers earn a state rebate.

Then there’s the Wegmans partnership. Bread sold under Wegmans’ “Near Our Store” designation gets at least 25 percent of its bread flour through Birkett; and not run-of-the-mill wheat, either. The head baker requests specific varieties: Renan, a French wheat grown by the Martens; a soft white wheat from the Christensen’s; Rouge de Bordeaux; Einkorn. Wegmans’ head baker even comes down to Yates County to ride the combine with growers like Tim Christensen.

“We’re small enough to monkey around with segregating all these specialty grains,” Kyle says, “but big enough to do the tractor-trailer volumes they want; with all the food safety certifications. It’s a cool ecosystem!”

You’ve worked with family farmers for generations. How do those relationships shape how you grow, source, and mill your grains today?

On the wheat side, farmers have plenty of homes for their grain, other mills near Rochester, grain dealers moving wheat around the Northeast, so Kyle counts the mill lucky to work with the same loyal families year after year.

On the buckwheat side, those relationships run generations deep, and they’re built on a program designed around the farmer’s security. Every winter, the mill looks at the harvest, decides how much buckwheat it needs, and sets a contract price. Farmers buy their seed from the mill’s refreshed seed stock, and they know going in exactly what they’ll be paid in the fall.

It’s a guaranteed production contract- and that matters in a niche crop.

“If they get back 1,000 pounds to the acre, we’ll buy all 1,000 pounds. If they get back 500, we’ll buy all that. If they get back 1,200, we’ll buy that too,” Kyle explains. “If there’s bad weather or bad luck in their field, they don’t have to buy out of the contract. They know the price, they know we’re not going to change it, and they know they have a home for it.”

Because buckwheat is such a small North American market, the mill also hedges geography- contracting as much as it can in New York State while bringing in rail cars from the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa, so one temperamental growing season can’t sink the supply. Meanwhile, new growers keep raising their hands. “I’ve had folks tell us that in some years, buckwheat is their most profitable crop,” Kyle says.

For someone visiting Penn Yan or Yates County for the first time, what Birkett-connected experiences should be on their must-do list?

Start with the selfie. Mounted on the side of the mill is the world’s largest pancake griddle (28 feet, 1 inch across) used to cook a record-setting buckwheat pancake during the 1987 Buckwheat Harvest Festival, with batter mixed in a cement mixer and a crane to flip it. It’s one of the most unique things to do in Yates County, and yes, everyone takes the picture!

One note: the mill itself isn’t open for tours right now, and for a good reason- it’s running more than 150 of the 168 hours in a week, and some weeks closer to 160. “Maybe someday we’ll get to the point where we can do tours again,” Kyle says.

In the meantime, he recommends building your own “Taste of Birkett” trail through downtown Penn Yan and beyond:

• Grab a pastry at Amity Coffee Co. or Blue Heron Bakery, made with Birkett flour

• Pick up Birkett flour and retail products at Oak Hill Bulk Foods, Milly’s Pantry or Indian Pines Marketplace 

• Order the buckwheat pancakes at The Wagner Restaurant  or Angel’s Family Restaurant

• Look for local breads and baked goods made with Birkett flours around town

And for the best view in town? “If you’re out for a walk, go to the bridge behind the mill on the Keuka Outlet Trail and look back at the mill,” Kyle says. “It’s so photogenic; and it’s cool to think about how long it’s been there and how many pounds of flour have been through that building.” Pair it with our agritourism itinerary for a full day of farm-to-table exploring.

 

How has The Birkett Mills influenced the identity and economy of downtown Penn Yan over the years?

The economics run in a circle Kyle describes as almost self-propagating: if the mill has markets for its flour, it has reason to buy more grain- and because the local grain is so good, it has good markets for its flour. Around and around it goes.

“We’re a close-to-home buyer for so many local grain growers,” he says. “I think we pay well, I think we pay quick, and they rely on us as much as we rely on them.”

Beyond the economics, the mill is part of the fabric of downtown- something Kyle saw firsthand during a visit to mill’s break room one Sunday afternoon.

“I was shocked by how many people came by in that two-hour span,” he says. “They came from Amity with their coffee, took pictures in front of the griddle, just kind of looked around.” The 1824 building isn’t just a workplace; it’s a local postcard.

Looking ahead to the next 25–50 years, what do you hope people will say about The Birkett Mills when America reaches its 300th anniversary?

“We say here: they’ve run this business for 200-plus years- we can’t be the ones to run it into the ground now,” Kyle says. “That’s kind of a morbid way to put it, but we have a great team, a mix of young and old, and I know everyone feels the same way. We’re growing in a way that’s sustainable and exciting.”

Change takes time in a 202-year-old building- “you look around and think, man, this stuff’s taking forever, and then you look five years in the rearview mirror and realize we got a lot done”- but the projects in the works point forward. One example: a buckwheat milk developed with help from Cornell’s food science lab in Geneva is heading to Whole Foods shelves nationwide this September through New Barn Organics, milled from Birkett buckwheat flour. It’s proof that a crop the Dutch brought over in the 1600s still has new chapters left!

Taste 229 Years of History for Yourself!

As America 250 unfolds, there’s no better place to stand at the crossroads of American history and small-town flavor than Penn Yan. Snap your griddle selfie, walk the outlet trail, dig into the county’s past at the Yates County History Center, order the pancakes- and take home a bag of stone-ground buckwheat from the Buckwheat Capital of America.

Start planning your visit to downtown Penn Yan, browse more things to do in Yates County, see how we’re celebrating America 250 in the Finger Lakes Countrysides, and share your adventures with us using #FLXCountrysides.