01/17/07 YFR, Steed

It's a family farm operation in the Malta Valley. That's where Garth and Julie Steed are raising their children on the potato seed farm they bought two years ago. STEED "We grow about 180 acres of potatoes, about 300 acres of wheat and a little bit of alfalfa." The Steeds new farm is also bringing something new to the potato world. STEED "We are growing the Western Russet. It's a variety that we brought out of the greenhouse at the university. Kind of happened by accident that we got it. We asked for them to continue it. My Dad and I were one of the first ones to grow it. Since then there are about four seed growers now and its becoming the third highest seed crop in Idaho, potato seed. It's a variety that just does everything and we really like it. Because of the contracts we got it's was about the only way I was able to buy the farm." When they aren't farming, Julie and Garth are often helping save lives on Interstate 84 north of the Utah state line. The Steeds are Emergency Medical Technicians and often respond to accidents on one of the windiest, iciest stretches of highway in the state. Garth and Julie Steed, Idaho Young Farmers and Ranchers. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott