This article appears in the April 2016 issue of Potato Grower.
The Strohauers are potato people. They are also proud Coloradans. But that hasn’t stopped the family from chasing—and achieving—success elsewhere.
Harry Stohauer represents the third generation in his family to farm in the Greeley, Colo., area just north of Denver. Strohauers have worked the land in the Greeley area for over a century, and potatoes have come from Strohauer ground since the 1940s. Harry Strohauer grew up in La Salle, Colo, and has run the operation since his father, Harry P., passed away when Harry was just 16 years old.
“Potatoes have been an important part of the farm since I was born,” says Strohauer. “They have always been more my passion than anything else.”
Unexpected Move
In the middle of the 20th century, Greeley was a bit of a potato hotbed; in fact, if the old-timers are to be believed, the area one had a higher concentration of potato growers than eastern Idaho or Colorado’s famed San Luis Valley. The Strohauers were a major part of that, and remain so. However, severe water shortages have plagued the area for the last decade or so, pushing all but a handful of potato growers out.
“Hay or wheat or even corn at times can do without water if you absolutely have to,” says Strohauer, “but any potato grower knows you’ve got to have a secure source of water at all times for your potatoes.”
Things came to a head in 2012, when drought forced Strohauer to sacrifice several fields of corn to ensure his potatoes had enough water to survive. He and his wife Katie, along with their management team, decided the farm simply could not sustain its potato production in northern Colorado. The decision was made to relocate a large portion of the farm’s operations to northwestern New Mexico, and it’s hard to imagine the move yielding better results than it has.
Finding a Niche
Strohauer Farms’ shipping point in Clayton, N.M., is a mere half-mile from New Mexico’s borders with both Texas and Oklahoma. Strohauer potatoes are grown in all three states, giving them a unique marketing advantage.
“From one shipping point, we’re able to market locally grown, farm-to-market potatoes in three different states,” says Brandon Rattray, who manages Strohauer Farms operations in what they call the tri-state area. “There aren’t many growers who can provide something like that.”
Strohauer Farms potatoes and onions are grown both conventionally and organically, which has also proven to be a boon to business. The incorporation of organic production, which began on Strohauer Farms in 2006, was another byproduct of the water troubles facing the farm in northern Colorado.
“As it became harder to survive in the Greeley area, we saw opportunity in the organic realm,” says Strohauer. “I had wanted to start growing fingerlings, and it made the most sense at that time to do fingerlings as organic.”
Bit by bit, Strohauer Farms’ organic production has increased. They now produce both all of their varieties—which include several russet, red, fingerling and Yukon cultivars—both conventionally and organically. Today, the Strohauers’ mix of conventional and organic potatoes, combined with their vast “local” territory, gives them several unique market advantages.
“While we endorse organic and feel that that’s a good lifestyle for many people, we feel that everything we grow conventionally is every bit as safe,” says Strohauer. “It was an opportunity we saw to market the same products in two different directions.
“We endorse the organic lifestyle and feel that is a growing segment. Twenty years ago, if somebody was buying organic, they tried to buy totally organic. Now, there’s a broadening range of people who will buy organic. They may not buy 100 percent organic; they might only buy a few items. It’s a growing, important segment.”
Making It Work
As can be imagined, operating two farms nearly 400 miles apart has had its challenges. Strohauer credits the success of the venture to his many employees who have been willing to work at both locations. He doesn’t take for granted the sacrifice it’s been for many of them. Somewhat fortuitously, the season at the southern farm begins and ends two to three weeks ahead of the Greeley location, allowing equipment and bodies to be ferried back and forth to aid in planting and harvest.
When I first brought up the idea that we were going to have to relocate, and I knew it had the potential to disrupt lives and families,” Strohauer recalls. “One of our people said it would be more like a vacation getting out of the Greeley area for a few weeks a year and away from some of the problems we were dealing with at the time.”
Strohauer himself makes the trip quite often in his private plane. And each Saturday night during the tri-state harvest, he fits as many employees as he can in the plane to take them back to Greeley to spend Sunday with their families.
No, the potato game hasn’t always been easy for the folks at Strohauer Farms. But it sure has proven to be worth it.
“It’s amazing how often in our lives the challenges and adversities we face are God’s blessings in disguise waiting for us,” says Harry Strohauer. “Without the water adversity we faced that was threatening our livelihood, we would have never ventured out into the organic and tri-state spaces, both of which have really allowed our farm to grow and thrive.”