Mikkelson farms

Mikkelson farms

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
In Idaho’s billion-dollar potato industry, to get to harvest, you have to start with cutting seed.

In Idaho's billion dollar potato industry to get here harvest, you have to start here cutting seed. At the massive Mikkelson farms in Roberts, they’re cutting seed… and lots of it. Farm manager Andrew Mickelson is doing something novel this year, in the year of the pandemic. He's taking his friends and neighbors behind the scenes on his Facebook page. Hey guys, first day of seed cutting here. We’re having a blast so far. Already have to break down some things to fix, you know, we have something really cool. We’ve designed a return system. There are counters so when one goes down what goes down, it automatically returns and takes it back, even flow again. It has been really helpful. Seed prep on Mickelson Farm is a huge operation. They grow Russett norkotahs, Russett Burbank’s, and Chieftain potatoes, all sold through the family business. Rigby Produce. They also grow their own seed potatoes under the Yellowstone seed brand. Everybody, today I'm talking to you from the cellar where we put the finished seed. So we’ve got it coming in on the trucks back there. You can see up on this pile up here here where we stack it up and end up with all of this here.

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