14 Potato Grower |DECEMBER 2015
GROWER OF THE MONTH
By Tyrell Marchant | Photos courtesy of Tucker Farms, Inc.
I
t's a cold, gray, wet mid-October
morning in upstate New York, but the
dreary weather doesn't dampen the
mood a bit at Tucker Farms.
"It's raining and about 37 degrees; they're talking snow this
weekend," says Tom Tucker in a tone that suggests waiting on the
weather is of no more consequence than waiting at the Wendy's
drive-through. "We still have a little bit of harvest left and it's
been miserable weather, but we'll get it finished."
That come-what-may attitude encapsulates what the Tucker
family stands for, and it's what has kept them on the same land for
a century and a half.
WORKING HARD
"My father, Donald, always worked form sunup to sundown," says
Tom Tucker. "He's 89 now, but he still rules the roost. I remember
asking him in high school why he wanted to be a farmer, and he
said it's because you get to do what you want on the days you
want, depending on Mother Nature."
Tucker Farms in Gabriels, N.Y.
