The life of a grower is full of risk and reward, heartache and triumph, and doesn’t involve heading home at 5 p.m. each weeknight and taking weekends off. Growers work long hours under extreme stress each growing season to ensure their crops are of the highest caliber, worthy of the plates and glasses of consumers.
County Commissioner Larry Schoen, a farm owner in southern Blaine County, Idaho, where much of the area’s agricultural operations are based, said in early June that local farmers face two main issues: low commodity prices and the availability of water.
“Most of the farmers in the county rely on groundwater to some extent, and with aquifer levels diminishing over the last several years, senior water rights holders may call for curtailment,” he said.
Also, the market for alfalfa, a Blaine County’s No. 1 crop, has been flooded with low-quality hay damaged by wet weather, Schoen said.
“Alfalfa prices are roughly $100 less per ton than they were a couple years ago, and most other commodities are down as well,” he said.
But, Schoen said, the good news is that Blaine County farmers grow some of the highest-quality crops in North America.
“We have relatively few pests and disease compared to places like the Magic Valley, which has a warmer climate year-round,” he said.
Mark Johnson, a seed potato grower who grows several varieties in Blaine County, some of which end up as french fries—shared his experiences growing the crops that create the food products that many people love.
According to the most recent national Census of Agriculture conducted by the USDA in 2012, alfalfa and barley were listed as the most-grown crops in Blaine County, but that doesn’t stop award-winning farmer Mark Johnson from churning out some quality seed potatoes.
Johnson, who grew up in southern Idaho’s Magic Valley, owns Silver Creek Seed, located just outside Picabo. For the past decade, Silver Creek Seed has been the sole seed potato producer in Blaine County, farming on nearly 500 acres of leased land in the Bellevue Triangle, Picabo and Carey.
Johnson’s seed potatoes are sold to and planted by commercial growers in the Magic Valley, eastern Idaho and Washington State. Seed potatoes begin their lives in a petri dish and are closely monitored throughout the growing process for genetic defects and disease to ensure that a quality product is eventually distributed to farmers.
“We currently grow five varieties of potatoes, including the Russet Burbank, the famous Idaho potato,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he also grows Ranger Russets, which are used for french fry production because they can withstand processing and freezing without diminishing in quality. The Ranger Russet has a specific gravity and weight distribution that ensures that it exhibits the classic golden french fry color when fried.
Johnson said another potato variety he grows, the Clearwater Russet, developed by the Tri-State Potato Development Program in the early 2000s, is copyrighted and cannot be grown without a fee.
“We pay about 50 cents per hundredweight for royalties,” he said.
Planting begins in early May, he said, and is usually wrapped up by the end of the month. Harvest begins Sept. 20 and runs through Oct. 15 and is the busiest time on the farm, when 20 employees pitch in to get the job done.
“We have five employees working during the off season,” he said.
Because Blaine County sits at a higher altitude than many farming communities in southern Idaho, temperatures are cooler and conditions are ideal for seed potato farming, Johnson said, as there is less disease and fewer insects that could infiltrate his crop.
Johnson has a small book in his Picabo office that lists a host of fungi, bacteria and viruses that commonly afflict potato crops. One of the fungi has important historical significance on the current makeup of the U.S. population, having caused the mass exodus of Irish overseas to American shores.
“Late blight, caused by a fungus, was the reason for the potato famine in Ireland,” he said.
The fungus is still considered a threat and could damage his field crop. It can also ruin potatoes that have been harvested and are in storage if those potatoes are exposed. Johnson said that during the growing season, he watches blight reports and stays in contact with other growers to stay one step ahead of disease.
Being in operation for nearly a decade, Johnson has been able to upgrade tractors with GPS guidance systems that ensure straight and true tillage in each field. He said the fertilizer company he hired applies fertilizer at a variable rate based on a digital map created according to data from several soil samples taken in the field. He said equipment will apply fertilizer only to areas in the field where it is needed, helping with efficiency.
Johnson said that so far this year, the potato market isn’t spectacular, but early signs indicate it could be a prosperous year for seed growers. Johnson said he’s always watching the markets and thinking about water.
“We don’t know what will happen with water access in the future, and we make sure we’re good stewards of the land and don’t waste any of it,” he said.
Source: Idaho Mountain Express