16 POTATO GROWER | SEPTEMBER 2017
Story and photos by Tyrell Marchant
GROWER OF THE MONTH
Even after Tom Kirsch had accepted the cold, hard fact that
growing potatoes simply was not profitable for his farm, the
crop was never fully off the table. In the early years of the new
millennium, acreage of Russets Burbanks and Russet Norkotahs
was being cut back across the country, and it was becoming
increasingly difficult for Kirsch to find a market for the potatoes
coming out of his central Oregon farm and packing shed. By
2008, Madras Farms had completely phased potatoes from its
operation.
"We made a conscious decision to get out of the potato business,"
Kirsch says. "The economics at that time just weren't in our favor.
We decided we weren't going to fight it."
But it never quite seemed like a permanent split. While Madras
Farms evolved into a vibrant, successful seed operation—
producing high-quality seed for hybrid carrots, garlic, turf grass
and wheat, as well as mint for teas—it always felt like a home for
potatoes.