INTO DOG TREATS, FERTILIZER, FISHING BAIT
Greg Trial probably is best known as the owner of Farley Mercantile, a historic corner store in the tiny town known by the same name. After purchasing the historic building, Trial attempted to lean into the structure’s retail past, but the entrepreneur now admits “the real story is what’s going on in the (nearby Platte) River—specifically, the silver carp.”
The Platte River is located about a quarter mile from Farley Mercantile.
Trial and his business partner, Jim Finke, launched “Missouri Coast Fisheries” in 2019, and their mission is to make use of every aspect of the invasive silver carp and big-headed carp (not to be confused with Common Carp, which are bottom feeders and, for that reason, have given all carp a bad name.)
The silver and big-head variety are voracious feeders, whom Trial described as competing with smaller fish for plankton, located at levels higher in the water. They are consuming so much plankton that they out-compete other smaller species and multiply at a dizzying rate, Trial said.
However, the business partners are on a mission to prove their chosen carps as valuable and even extremely versatile.
Their mission statement, as listed on their Facebook page, reads: “At Missouri Coast Fisheries, our mission is to safeguard and restore the natural balance of the Missouri River and its tributaries by eradicating the invasive Carp species.” Experimentation and research have proven the before-hidden truth—that these carp varieties can be made into a plethora of products from dog treats to fertilizer and compost to fishing bait. That includes experimenting with creating fish patties that perhaps could be used as food for prisoners at nearby Fort Leavenworth, he said. The two, along with a team of several family members and friends, also plan to capture their carp in the Missouri River, which converges nearby with the Platte.
Trial grew up fishing as he was taught as a child by one of his grandfathers, so spending time on the Platte River was a constant draw. Trial and Finke discovered the river’s abundance and ease of catching carp by accident as they traversed the Platte River in a fishing boat. Trial, who lives in Overland Park, and Finke, who resides in Belton, discovered that carp were startled by the whirring motor of their motorboat, causing them to leap sometimes 10 feet into the air, often landing in the boat. They have since devised other methods of catching carp that encourage landings in a net off the side of the boat.
Their business venture has led to several new creations, including a portable walk-in refrigerated cooler powered by a generator and pulled by a trailer, which can be wheeled to the water’s edge so the crew can easily store gutted fish, Trial said. The unit will be towed to a client in a Kansas City area Chinese grocery, Trial said. In addition, a recent order from New York will result in shipping about 40,000 pounds per week, he said.
Another invention is “Bait Shop in a Box,” which includes a small apartment-size refrigerator that measures about three square feet and offers refrigerated bait in the cooler, including silver and big-headed carp as well as other species. The fridge is attached to a pegboard featuring fishing tackle implements. Trial described it as “anything you’d need for a day of fishing.”
So far, the boxes are available with one each at convenience stores in Smithville, Kansas City and Parkville, Trial said. The two plan to grow that aspect of the business by adding more throughout the Kansas City area, he said.
A scientist from the Missouri Department of Conservation has “bent over backwards to help,” Trial said. Joe McMullen believes reducing invasive carp numbers may benefit other species that call the Platte home and could restore a more balanced ecosystem. He’s working closely with Trial and Finke to ensure they follow department regulations after they were granted a temporary commercial license to catch the special carp along the Platte River. They have the lone permit—albeit temporary– to commercially fish in the Platte.
Trial said the two business cohorts have created multiple iterations of nets attached to the boat to catch and hold the carp, which can fly into the boat at a rate of hundreds at a time. Their first models were not sturdy enough for the high-jumping fish, which can reach up to 30 pounds. The fish have damaged and dented fishing boats in addition to breaking the vessel’s fuel line, Trial said.
The newest nets are built out of a woven net attached to frames constructed of one-inch pipe that are attached to the boat’s side using a hinge pin.
Trial’s entrepreneurial journey with the Farley Mercantile building, constructed in 1872, began after he decided to purchase the unofficial historic landmark after first eyeing it while taking a detour from his usual daily route on his way home from work as an electrical sales engineer. Since then, he’s tinkered with businesses ideas, including a pop-up Christmas store, also with the collaboration of Finke, a few years ago. But the two believe they’re onto something long-term with the carp.
“From the day I bought the building, it’s been the weirdest blessing and strangest curse,” he said, as he’s searched for a way to utilize the building. This winter, Trial and Finke plan to outfit the first floor of the business as a sales floor for fishing gear.
Although Trial works full-time, an abundance of energy has meant he spends all of his spare time inventing, creating and searching for his next business venture. The 57-year-old is a self-described inventor who “has his hands in way too much,” a lifelong pattern. When he was still very young, Trial said he discovered that ideas for entrepreneurial ventures began dominating his thoughts. Trial is so invested in his ideas that he regularly meets with other Kansas City area inventors to share ideas and offer advice.
“My whole life has been this way,” Trial said of his search for a way to make a difference. “I want to be able to do something in the world that matters,” he said during an interview for an earlier Landmark article about the mercantile. “It’s never been about the money.”
Trial, who grew up in Westwood, Kan., said he gained best business practices growing up with a father who was a grocer.
Missouri Coast Fisheries has earned the attention of a film crew, who plan to launch a new reality show based on the experiences of Trial, Finke and their small group of fellow fishermen. The show will be similar to “The Deadliest Catch” and should launch sometime in 2025, Trial said. But the show needs a name and Finke said the public can submit their ideas on the business’s Facebook page or website.
The show comes ready with drama as the carp are so aggressive when they leap due to the boat’s motor noise that they are dangerous, Trial said.
He summed up the adventures this way: “The river is no place to play.”
