With potato harvest just around the corner, farmers are making sure all their equipment is ready to go. And that means big business for the shops that service them. This leads to a “Black Friday” of sorts for farm retailers. An eastern Idaho TV station spoke with the manager of one such business to see what harvest season means to him.
Drive through the heart of potato country in American Falls, Idaho, and you will find Double M Ag & Irrigation—a family-owned and -operated business whose mission is to make harvest time go smoothly for the farmers nearby.
“Our busiest time of year is right in the spring of the year as soon as the snow melts and the fields are dry enough to get in on them, and then also this time of the year in the fall when we’re trying to harvest and get things out of the ground before winter,” said Travis Mills, vice president of Double M.
Staff here say the potato harvest is absolutely critical for their bottom line. They basically run nonstop from September first through Halloween.
“Our hours of business this time of year generally run from 6:30 in the morning until 8 at night, and we always have the after-hours service calls after that, so really long days,” said Mills.
Instead of a once-a-week delivery schedule, staff here say they try to deliver parts to farmers as they are ordered—because farmers this time of year can be very short on time.
“The potato window is so short depending on Mother Nature,” said Mills. “So it’s a huge rush to get all those commodities out of the ground before they’re ruined or unharvestable.”
But the work doesn't end when the potatoes are out of the ground. After potatoes, the focus turns to sugarbeets—and preparing for the next season.
“We’re a small link in the chain, and it takes us both to make it all work. I think Power County is a great area to grow up in. They support local business automatically,” said Mills.
This Saturday is Idaho Spud Day in Shelley. The festival is typically held just before the annual potato harvest kicks into high gear.
Source: KPVI-TV