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12 POTATO GROWER | IDAHO ANNUAL 2017 12 POTATO GROWER | IDAHO ANNUAL 2017 with interest rates approaching 20 percent. Michael and Kim tried to make a go of it, but after five years decided to go back to school. In 1985, they packed up and moved to Logan, Utah, where Michael attended Utah State University. As it turns out, leaving the farm may have been the best move for ensuring his future on it. The Steinmanns lived in the Logan area for five years, and Michael wound up working E.A. Miller Beef, where he eventually worked his way up to the position of accounts receivable and claims manager. One day he got a phone call from a farm equipment dealership back home, offering him a job. After some serious thought and prayer, they made the decision to head home. "It was a hard decision; I had to take a pretty big cut in pay," Steinmann says now. "But it got us back to the area. We decided it would be good for the kids to be around their grandparents." The decision paid off. In 1992, Steinmann took over the farm from his father. Right away, he tried something new: growing red seed potatoes for a garden wholesaler friend in Logan. It was just three one-acre lots that first year, but selling into that market has been an unqualified success. "Back then, there weren't any reds around here," Steinmann says. "We were in competition with our neighbors, and I didn't want any competition. These varieties eliminated the competition because I was one of the only guys doing it at the time. "We still sell a lot of potatoes to garden center all over the Northwest—from Seattle to Portland to Boise to Salt Lake." All of Steinmann's garden seed is packaged in 50-pound bags right there on the farm and shipped through February and March— between 15,000 and 20,000 bags annually. Then bulk seed starts going out to commercial growers, most of them in eastern Idaho. Depending on the year and customers' needs, Steinmann will grow anywhere from eight to 18 varieties. "It's a lot of work," he says, "but I think it's worth it." As the farm approaches the century mark, Steinmann can't help looking to the future. He and Kim have raised their family of six children on the old place. Their son Rob is there full-time, and Rob's young son Ryder represents the fifth generation on the farm. He knows farm life presents a rare opportunity to spend life working alongside his family, and he's grateful for that. "Time is always at a premium," Steinmann says. "I like to spend as much of it as I can with my family. That's what's important to me. That's what it's all about." From left, Ryder, Rob, Herb and Michael Steinmann represent four generations to have worked the land Gus Steinmann arrived in Ashton nearly a century ago. From left, Ryder, Rob, Herb and From left, Ryder, Rob, Herb and Michael Steinmann represent four Michael Steinmann represent four generations to have worked the generations to have worked the land Gus Steinmann arrived in land Gus Steinmann arrived in Ashton nearly a century ago. Ashton nearly a century ago. From left, Ryder, Rob, Herb and Michael Steinmann represent four generations to have worked the land Gus Steinmann arrived in Ashton nearly a century ago.