Looking ahead to the 2015 potato season, Roger Christensen, co-owner of Maverick Potato Co. with Michael Kruse, said his company will increase its organic production by 30 percent, with russets, yellows and “a few reds” to run through the shed in Center, Colo.
“We are getting our organic certification and will run our own potatoes,” Christensen said in mid-April, adding that the organics will be packed in three- and five-pound consumer bags as well as cartons and shipped under private labels.
“Most of our organics go to the East and Southeast,” Christensen said of markets for that segment of Maverick’s production.
The longtime potato grower-marketer said the shed will finish shipping 2014 storage spuds May 1, “right on track.”
He added, “We’ll be ready with new potatoes by Labor Day weekend.”
Conventional acreage is holding steady, and Christensen said russets and yellows will make up the volume. The coming shipping year marks the third full season of operations for Maverick, and Christensen said quality has been excellent and supplies good for the initial two years. “The quality we’re shipping at the end of this season is still very good,” he said.
“Of course the whole San Luis Valley is practicing water conservation,” Christensen said of the ongoing drought that has affected the region for a number of years.
“Water is tight, and we here at Maverick are using a green manure rotation, trying to conserve as much as we can,” he said.
During the few months of downtime, Maverick will see general upgrades to the shed, which is SCS GlobalGAP-certified, as is the potato-growing arm of the operation.
Christensen has indicated Maverick uses certified seed for much of its exported product, and he said Mexico is an important market. To that end, he added, “I was at the ANTAD convention held in Guadalajara in March, and it was a great food show.
“But interior Mexico desperately wants different options for fresh potatoes in its stores, and the Mexican government has our hands tied,” he continued. “I don’t understand after the NAFTA how Mexico can ship produce items like avocados, tomatoes, sugar and even figs here but we can’t get our potatoes there. Their government is being sued by their growers, and it’s in their courts now.
“Honestly, if Mexico did really open up, we would be very honored to send our fresh, nutritious table stock potatoes to their consumers.”
Source: The Produce News