After 13 years of growing potatoes, Sowerby Brothers of Oakfield Township, near Greenville, Mich. will be recognized by their peers as the Potato Family of the Year at a banquet in November. The award has been given out by a committee of local agribusiness representatives since 1970.
The annual award recognizes excellence in potato production, and participation in the potato industry and the local community, according to Don Smucker, Michigan State University (MSU) county Extension director for the Westcentral Region.
“They’ve done a good job of growing and marketing potatoes,” said Smucker. “Because they’re relatively new into it, it’s certainly something that I’m sure they’re respected for,” said Smucker.
The Sowerbys’ operation consists of 450 acres of potatoes, currently all chip varieties and 1,000 acres of corn and 1,000 acres of edible beans. They have 300 acres north of Greenville, 200 acres southwest of Greenville in Montcalm Country with the remaining acreage in Kent County. They also exchange land with Carl and Cal Moore in Cedar, Mich. to rotate corn and potatoes in those fields.
Their operation currently keeps three families and a full-time worker busy. Brothers Bob and Richard and their wives Marilyn and Linda, along with Richard’s son Chad and wife Jenny are part of the farming operation. Bob and Richard’s father, Robert Sr., 78 and his wife Wanda who live nearby, had a small farm of beans and corn that was started by his father, Morris Sowerby. Bob and Richard started their operation in 1967-1968. Richard’s son Chad, representing the fourth generation, came back from college to the farm in 1990.
Each family member involved in the business has designated duties. Marilyn does all the bookwork while Richard is responsible for the bean harvest and Bob the potato harvest. “Both (Marilyn and Linda) have been known to ride the potato harvester once in a while,” said Bob. Linda, Marilyn and Jenny also have off-farm jobs.
The Sowerbys harvest together with Marilyn’s family, the Hansens, who farm north of Greenville. “We help each other. It takes a lot of trucks, a lot of labor,” said Bob about potato harvest time.
After studying crop protection at Michigan State University, Chad decided to work on the farm. “I learned more working right here,” said Chad. He’s made some changes on the technology side of things such as Global Positioning System (GPS). “I’m always trying to make things easier. I’m not opposed to trying something new,” he said.
The Sowerbys decided to diversify into potatoes partially because they had sandy ground and pivots suitable for growing potatoes.
“We started out growing Russet Burbanks for tablestock,” said Bob. Like many other area growers, the number of markets has decreased and the Sowerbys now grow potatoes for chipping. “In the last 15 years we went from 20 to one grower of tablestock,” said Bob about area potato growers.
“We were getting into chips before the french fry deal died,” said Bob about Simplot’s exit from the area three–four years ago.
The Sowerbys agree that urban sprawl with development pressures is a major problem in the area. The area is becoming higher density preventing the Sowerbys from expanding. “We can’t buy any land west of Greenville,” said Bob. Land west of Greenville is closer to the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Late blight is also a serious problem in the area this year, the Sowerbys reported.
The Sowerbys have their own storage and rent some storage for potatoes and also share some storage with the Hansens. “Storage is much more sophisticated than it used to be,” said Richard. Better storage allows the Sowerbys to lengthen their selling season two more months.
The Sowerbys were pleased to see the new Dr. B.F. (Burt) Cargill Potato Demonstration Storage in Lakeview became a reality. The storage facility can keep a pile of potatoes within 1/2 degree for six months, according to Smucker. The facility controls the humidity and carbon dioxide levels.
“Michigan growers have been very innovative and very aggressive,” said Smucker.
