PEI Potato Farmer Featured in #fromthefield Spotlight Series
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
As farmers continue to tweet from the field, Farms.com would like to shine a spotlight on those growers who have transformed into self-reporters. We will feature producers and farm businesses who have been using the #fromthefield hashtag to provide our readers with a glimpse into the diversity of crops and farm operations across Canada and the United States.
Our series started with Mazak Farms, an Ontario asparagus grower and is expanding weekly. Our next producer hails from Prince Edward Island and is well-known for growing potatoes - in fact she is branded on every Loblaws Farmers’ Market bag of potatoes sold in the Maritimes and in Ontario. I encourage you to take the time to read Lori Robinson’s profile!
Farm name: Eric C. Robinson Inc.
Twitter handle: @spuddoc
Location (i.e. state, province or region): Albany, Prince Edward Island
Types of crops grown: potatoes (processing, table and seed), soybeans, barley, forages.
How has using Twitter enhanced your farming business?
Initially, I was only using Twitter to keep up with current local and world news, check on sports scores and stories, follow my favourite athletes and celebrities, follow weather events, etc. Now, I find that I am following and being followed by more agriculturally related individuals and organizations. Twitter is a great forum for sharing ideas and knowledge with other farmers, tracking down current crop research, accessing commodity pricing, and gathering market information - all keys to success in running a farming business. Twitter also provides a wonderful opportunity for me to showcase how I produce the food that I sell to consumers in hopes that they will recognize our brands when they see them in the stores. Free publicity can go a long way!
What is an interesting fact about your farming operation?
Although the farm grows potatoes, soybeans, barley and forages, I am considered a potato farmer here on PEI, not a crop farmer. The other crops are considered rotational crops. I am the 5th generation of Robinsons to grow potatoes in this area. The farming operation also includes a custom packing facility where we wash, grade, pack and ship potatoes mainly in an area we refer to as the North American triangle: Newfoundland to Ontario to Florida.
What makes you proud to farm?
I come from a long line of hard working, determined, successful farmers who took pride in a job well done, treated people and the land they farmed with respect, and valued family above all else. Knowing that I am carrying on this tradition makes me proud to farm. Knowing that I am growing safe, healthy, nutritious food for consumers to enjoy makes me proud to farm. Knowing that I get up each morning and go to a job I love makes me proud to farm.
Additional information:
1.What is the best way to store potatoes? Answer: if you buy potatoes in poly (plastic) bags, you should remove them and place them in a paper bag in a cool, dark place.
2.How long does it take a potato to grow (plant to harvest)? Answer: depends on the variety. Some potatoes are harvested after 90 days in the ground; others are not ready for harvest until after 140 days. You typically plant potatoes in the reverse order to when you want to harvest them (last planted, first harvested; first planted, last harvested).
3.What is your typical cropping rotation? Answer: potatoes (year 1), soybeans (year 2), barley (year 3), forages underseeded the previous year (year 4), then back to potatoes.
4. How many acres do you plant of each crop? Answer: 500 acres of potatoes, 500 acres of soybeans, 500 acres of barley, and 500 acres of forages.
5.How many different potato varieties do you grow? Answer: 10-12.
6. Where does someone sell 15-20 million pounds of potatoes yearly?
Our seed potatoes are sold to growers in Florida, Oregon, California, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Our processing potatoes are sold to make potato chips for Frito Lay; some domestic and some export. Our table potatoes are mainly sold to Loblaws in the Maritime Provinces and some to Loblaws in Ontario. Earlier this year, Loblaws launched their nationwide Farmers’ Market-brand packaging for potatoes. Every Farmers Market bag of potatoes we ship from our packing house, whether it is a 5 lb poly bag or a 10 pound paper bag, has a picture of me on it!
(Photo: Lori Robinson featured on Loblaws Farmers’ Market potato bag.)