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22 Potato Grower | APRIL 2014 farm in north Carolina. those potatoes are followed each year by second-crop soybeans. "We were looking for opportunities," says Brian sackett "Pat McCotter in north Carolina was retiring from farming, so his farm was available, and he was in the chip potato industry also. An investment company bought the farm, and we're renting it for potatoes." having two operations in such different parts of the country certainly keeps the sacketts on their toes. north Carolina planting begins in early March with harvest in June and July; the Michigan growing season runs from the beginning of May through October, and storage shipments run all the way up through the next May. "so we ship potatoes basically every single month of the year," says Brian. sure, expanding has been a lot of work, and it hasn't always been easy. there have been obstacles. But, as is the case with so many thousands of farm families, hard work has never scared the sacketts away. the whole family, including Brian's wife and office manager Abby, knows that hard, smart work always pays off. When those obstacles have come, they've carefully assessed each situation, come up with a plan, then put their heads down and charged. Brian sackett believes that's the attitude the potato industry as a whole needs to have in order to succeed going forward. to that end, the family has striven to be as involved in the industry as they can be, especially locally. Brian has sat on the Michigan Potato Industry Commission (MPIC) since 2006 and is currently that commission's vice-chair. he adds that since 1997 he's been the chairman of the storage and handling Committee with MPIC. "that committee designed and is managing a demonstration storage where we do variety trial work," says Brian. But, in typical self-effacing fashion, Brian says simply that "being involved gives us something productive to do when there's down time." One of the biggest obstacles the sacketts are faced with is the sandy soil typical of the region. "soil health is really important to us because we're so sandy," says Brian. "And there've been potatoes on our ground for a long time, so we're working really hard on soil health and putting everything back into the ground that we can, kind of rebuild the old potato ground. We want to make sure the ground's productive for the future generation." Brian's son tyler, representing that future generation, is set to graduate from Michigan state University in May. Brian hopes tyler plans to carry on the sackett legacy of growing quality potatoes. And he trusts future generations to continue to improve on the legacy he and his predecessors have built. "I'm excited for the potato industry for the future," says Brian. "I think there's a lot of potential for the industry to stay strong. technology is going to keep improving. there's new breeding technology that hopefully in the next 10 years is going to get us better varieties to work with." the 19th century english writer and theologian G.K. Chesterton once said, "When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." the sackett family understands this. they know that in between all those head- down charges, it's important to look up, take a look at your goal, and appreciate the journey ahead. "there's a lot of great people who are leading the potato industry in this country, who have got a lot of foresight for the future," Brian sackett says. Do you think he knows he's one of them? PG grower of the Month the Sacketts' 7,000-acre Michigan spread produces potatoes as well as feed and seed corn. A midseason drive-by shows a healthy crop. Alan, Brian and tyler Sackett represent the past, present and future of Sackett Potatoes. Sackett Potatoes' storage capacity has grown from about 90,000 cwt. in 1987 to over 1 million cwt. today.