Potato Grower

September 2017

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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.

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