NAMPA, Idaho — Some people find farm odors offensive, but this one smells like a breath of fresh air.
Every August and September, the delicate scent of mint wafts along Canyon Country backroads as small distilleries process the harvested plants into oil.
Once distilled, the peppermint or spearmint oil is shipped across the world before for use in chewing gum, toothpaste, candy, mouthwash and other products.
One pound of mint oil will produce 1,000 tubes of toothpaste, 12,500 sticks of gum or 50,000 mint candies.
Idaho is the third-largest mint-producing state behind Washington and Oregon. In 2002, Idaho grew nearly 14,000 acres of mint, which produced 1.3 million pounds of oil.
Mint oil processing requires a number of stages.
After cutting, the plants are allowed to sit in the field to dry; then the mint is chopped and hauled to a distillery.
Once there, it is boiled so the mint oil is separated from the plants in the steam. The vapor flows with the steam through a large pipe into stainless steel tanks, where the oil is separated from the cooling water.
The process takes about two hours and produces fumes strong enough to make eyes water.
Sitting north of Nampa, farmer Steve Woodard's distillery gets lots of curious stares from motorists.
"Sometimes people stop and ask what were doing and what that odor is," Woodard said.
Woodard said the market for mint oil has been good the past several years, in large part because of increasing exports. Better hygiene around the world has boosted demand.
"As other countries become more wealthy, they're more likely to brush their teeth or want to have fresh breath," he said. "It's just another one of the small, niche crops that grow well here in the valley."