Does This Potato Farmer Grow the Golden State’s Best Spuds?
In the northernmost part of the state, potato farmer Marc Staunton takes an innovative approach to working with the natural environment. The results are undeniable – healthy potatoes that are full of flavor and store beautifully throughout the winter.
Healthy soils, high elevation and hearty potatoes
Over the last 120 years, many farmers in the Klamath Basin have developed a unique wetlands rotation system. For example, at Staunton Farms, each field is planted with alternating potato and onion crops over the course of four years. At the end of four years, that field is flooded and allowed to return to its natural state – wetlands – for two years. Marc elaborates, “What we’ve found is that a two-year full-season flood almost mimics returning back to that natural state of being a perpetual wetland. There’s a dramatic reduction in disease pressure, weed pressures go way down, soil nutrients go way up. It’s like virgin soil that’s never been farmed.”
After a two-year wetlands rotation, farmers are left with a nutrient-dense black topsoil, rich with organic matter and naturally PH-balanced. The combination of wetlands and crop rotation optimizes soil health, which helps to expedite time from planting to harvest by about 30 days.
Elevation is another factor that makes the Klamath Basin a great place to grow potatoes. Higher elevation fields demand a shorter growing season, but the cooler nighttime temperatures yield a drastic reduction in disease pressure. Marc notes, “We’re really high elevation, at 4,200 feet. Our days get really hot in the summer, but our nights get really cool, which leads to really healthy potato plants.”
For thousands of years, the Tulelake basin was a natural lake with no outlet – essentially a reservoir for snow melt. In the early 1900s, the Klamath Reclamation Project served to drain the lake, using the water for irrigation and making the land available for agriculture.
Filling the gap: why potato storage matters
Ultimately, the fertile soil and optimal growing conditions yield a potato that stores well for an extended length of time. Marc adds, “We are able to grow and store potatoes, in a short growing season, that can service the California market through the winter until the spring crop comes off in the desert in California. That’s the same with the onions and the garlic that we grow here. We provide what we call the ‘end of season’ for California.”
Potatoes are harvested from late September through October in the Klamath Basin. However, harvest in the warmer desert regions won’t resume until around mid-March. That gap in production, from November through mid-March, also happens to be the time of year when potatoes are most popular. That’s why it’s incredibly important to have potatoes that store well. It ensures that California Grown potatoes are available throughout the holiday season and into Saint Patrick’s Day. Marc smiles and notes, “We fit that market perfectly because we have high quality storage potatoes coming at that time.”
If you’ve downed an order of Animal-Style Fries lately, those potatoes just might have been grown at Staunton Farms! In-N-Out is one of Staunton Farms biggest clients.
Choose CA GROWN potatoes
The potatoes grown at Staunton Farms are packaged by Cal-Ore Products and proudly labeled with the CA GROWN license plate.
Cal-Ore’s General Manager, Ryan Finney, proudly states, “When a customer sees the CA GROWN license plate, they will know that they are getting the highest quality potatoes. In my opinion, there’s no better potato than a potato grown in the state of California.”
Locals also boast that potatoes grown in this region have a fluffier texture and an earthier aroma. Marc recalls, “The Oregon potato commission started a taste test a few years back to figure out the terroir of different areas. The Klamath Basin consistently won all the taste tests for four years straight”. He pauses with a laugh and notes, ”after which they just stopped doing it. I do believe that our potatoes taste better – we have a more full-flavored potato.”
Cal-Ore Products potatoes are sold at Walmart stores nationwide. Next time you’re shopping for potatoes, look for the CA GROWN license plate!
Want to learn more about what happens after harvest? Check out our blog post on Cal-Ore Produce!
Looking for the most delicious ways to enjoy CA GROWN potatoes? Crispy Hasselback Potatoes Recipe with Herbs and Olives are hard to beat!
Article by Hilary Rance. Photography by James Collier.