Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/622156
WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 27 30 years. Wagner's first potato crop went into the ground in 1992, and Idaho's signature crop has been a staple on the farm ever since. Today, Mike Wagner Farms is spread out over more than 8,000 acres in southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon. While years past have seen Wagner dedicate as much as 1,300 acres to potatoes, a 600- to 800- acre crop represents a typical year. Every Wagner potato is a Russet Burbank, and they all end up at the Heinz (formerly Ore- Ida) process facility in nearby Ontario, Ore. With such a large operation, Wagner can afford to keep his crops on long rotations, and he takes great care to do just that— especially with potatoes, which are on a five-year rotation. Wagner is proud of the health of his soil but is quick to point out that it takes a lot of upkeep. "Russets take a lot out of the ground," he says. "You've got to be putting something back into it in order to maintain a stable crop. We use mustard in our rotation and try to put some green manures back into the ground. When we keep that rotation out quite a ways and spread our potatoes around the farm, we have better success. "Good ground and Mother Nature have more control than we do, but we try to take care of everything we can." Water isn't always easy to come by in the sagebrush country where Wagner has built his life. Because he's well aware of the finicky nature of the area's water supply, Wagner serves on the board of the Black Canyon Irrigation District. "If we don't have water, we've got nothing," he says. "It's desert. If you're not taking care of the soil and water, they're not going to be there to take care of you. Being on the irrigation board, if water's going to be tight, I know about it." Good PeoPle Wagner knows he couldn't have made his farm as successful as it is today without plenty of help. Several employees have been with him for 20 years, and none of them is afraid of the responsibility of making a large farm go. Wagner tries to lead by example, and it seems to have paid off. WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 27 If you spot a potato truck or harvester anywhere between Ironside, Ore., and Middleton, Idaho, in late September, the odds are pretty good it's one of Mike Wagner's.