Grower Profiles

Nestled on the western bank of the north-flowing Red River is Black Gold Farms, a unique farming operation located in multiple states but headquartered in Grand Forks. Growing up on her family’s farm, Leah Halverson spread her wings after college by taking a marketing job for an agency. Now she’s brought that experience back to the family business; Halverson, her father, and her two brothers are all still heavily involved in the farm in different capacities, each working on parts of the business that complement their strengths.  

Jay LaJoie is a 5^th generation potato grower in Van Buren, Maine in a region called the St. John River Valley which just so happens to be right on the border of Canada. The farm grows a variety of fresh potatoes including purple potatoes. Today, most of the crop goes to a company in Pennsylvania that makes purple potato chips.

Steve Streich is a 2^nd generation seed potato grower in Kalispell, Montana, where the soil is beautiful and almost black in color. A seed potato farm is unique because it is what starts the potato supply chain and is key for a high-quality crop. The farm began in North Dakota by Streich’s father, but two moves later brought them to their current location in northwest Montana. It’s isolated from other potato farms and has a great climate for growing seed.

Bender Potatoes grow seven varieties of white potatoes that are primarily turned into fries or potato chips. With a chipping plant just an hour away, potatoes harvested from Bryan Bender’s farm are chips by lunchtime the same day and in the grocery store the day after. The original farm was built in 1740, and shortly after, a now historical farmhouse was built in 1790 where Bender lives with his wife Betsy and their three kids.

Welcome to Grant 4-D farms, a desert farm spanning 30,000 irrigated acres and growing nine different varieties of russet potatoes. Taylor Grant manages the farm with his dad where they’re utilizing high-tech farming equipment. One example of that is the moisture sensor setup which has four different depths for a full profile of the moisture of the crop. A rain gauge is on the back and all that information is beamed to a cloud server giving Grant access all over the world.

In the San Luis Valley of Colorado is 3^rd generation potato grower, Jared Smith. Every potato farm is unique in some way, and this farm is surrounded by mountains that Smith, in his free time, flies through in his plane. The plane also comes in handy at the farm for getting a bird’s eye view of the entire operation. It is sometimes easier to spot potential problems from the sky rather than on the ground.

Eric Schroeder is a 5th-generation seed potato farmer with his brother and two cousins in Antigo, Wisconsin. During the spring season on a seed farm, seed is being delivered from other farms, while at the same time, Schroders Brother’s Farms is cutting their own seed and shipping it out all over the country.

Colin Szawlowski is a 5^th-generation potato grower whose great, great grandfather immigrated from Poland and decided to grow potatoes right in the North Hampton meadows. Szawlowski Potato Farms is a true family affair with Colin, his older twin brothers, his parents, and even his great uncles work together on the farm. His great uncles, who are 83 and 87, can be seen scouting the potatoes in the morning and again in the evening.

Bryan Jones’ grandfather began growing greens in the 1950s for a naval base nearby before they switched to growing potatoes and never looked back. Jones’ dad is still very much involved on the farm and is the current owner but hopes Jones can take over someday. Today, Riverdale Potato Farms grows potatoes exclusively to be made into potato chips.

Derek Friehe is the owner of Friehe farms and learned about the potato industry from his father. Friehe’s father, who immigrated from Germany in the 1980s, had the foresight to see the Upper Columbia Basin as a great opportunity for growing potatoes because of the good soil and the good source of water. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the operation continued to grow into what it is now. Today, Travis Meacham, the production manager at Friehe Farms, is using robust technology to increase efficiency on the farm.