The People Behind the Potato
Here's something most of us never think about: somewhere, right now, a potato farmer is doing one of the hardest jobs in agriculture so that you can have hash browns tomorrow morning. Potato farming is demanding, unpredictable, and not particularly glamorous. The margins are thin. The weather is fickle. The pests are relentless. And yet, generation after generation, potato farmers keep doing it.
We wanted to spotlight five potato farming operations that represent the best of what this industry looks like — from massive multi-generational operations to small farms doing things differently. These are the people who deserve your attention (and your support).
1. The Simplot Family — Boise, Idaho
You can't talk about potato farming in America without talking about J.R. Simplot. John Richard Simplot dropped out of school at 14, started farming in Idaho's Magic Valley, and built what would become one of the largest privately held food companies in the world. The J.R. Simplot Company now farms over 37,000 acres and processes billions of pounds of potatoes annually.
But here's the part that matters: Simplot essentially invented the frozen French fry. In the 1940s, he developed a process for freezing and dehydrating potatoes that supplied the U.S. military during World War II. After the war, he partnered with a small hamburger restaurant chain run by a guy named Ray Kroc. You might know it as McDonald's.
Every time you eat a McDonald's French fry, you're eating a Simplot potato. The company remains family-owned and headquartered in Boise, and they still farm potatoes in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and several other states. They also invest heavily in sustainable farming practices, including precision agriculture technology that reduces water usage and chemical inputs.
The Simplot story is potato farming at its most ambitious — a reminder that a kid from Idaho with nothing but dirt and determination literally changed how the world eats.
2. Silver Creek Seed — Picabo, Idaho
If Simplot is the blockbuster, Silver Creek Seed is the indie film. This family-owned operation in Picabo, Idaho (yes, that's a real place, and yes, it's as small as it sounds) specializes in seed potatoes — the potatoes that other farmers plant to grow their crops.
Seed potato farming is a niche within a niche. The quality of the seed potato determines the quality of the harvest, so seed potato farmers operate under incredibly strict standards. Their fields are inspected multiple times per growing season for diseases like late blight and potato virus Y. A single infected plant can disqualify an entire field.
Silver Creek Seed has been doing this for decades in the high-altitude valleys of central Idaho, where the cold winters and isolation from large commercial potato operations create ideal conditions for disease-free seed production. They supply seed potatoes to farmers across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
It's the kind of quiet, essential work that never makes headlines but keeps the entire potato industry running. Without good seed, there are no good potatoes. Without operations like Silver Creek, there are no good seeds.
3. Skagit Valley's Small Potato Farms — Washington State
Skagit Valley in northwest Washington is famous for tulips, but it's also home to a thriving community of small-scale potato farmers who grow specialty and heirloom varieties you'll never find in a Walmart.
Farmers in the valley grow varieties like Purple Majesty, Russian Banana fingerlings, German Butterballs, and Adirondack Reds. These aren't the russets that end up in fast food fryers — they're the potatoes that show up at farmers markets, farm-to-table restaurants, and CSA boxes.
What makes Skagit Valley special is the combination of rich alluvial soil (deposited over thousands of years by the Skagit River), a mild maritime climate, and a farming community that values diversity over monoculture. Many of these farms are small — 50 acres or less — and they prioritize soil health, crop rotation, and community connection over maximum yield.
If you've ever bought a bag of purple potatoes at a farmers market and thought "these taste completely different from store potatoes," there's a good chance they came from somewhere like Skagit Valley. These farmers are keeping alive potato varieties that the industrial food system would happily forget.
4. The Cranney Family — Oakley, Idaho
The Cranney family has been farming potatoes in southern Idaho since the early 1900s. Cranney Farms is now one of the larger family-owned potato operations in the state, growing thousands of acres of russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, and other varieties across the Snake River Plain.
What sets Cranney apart is their vertical integration. They don't just grow potatoes — they store, pack, and ship them. Their state-of-the-art storage facilities can hold millions of pounds of potatoes at precisely controlled temperatures and humidity levels, keeping the potatoes fresh for months after harvest. This is crucial because potatoes are harvested in the fall but consumed year-round.
The Cranney operation also runs a trucking fleet and packing facility, which means they control their product from field to store shelf. In an industry where farmers often feel squeezed by processors and distributors, this level of control is both rare and important. It means the Cranneys can ensure quality standards that would be impossible if they handed their potatoes off to a third party at the farm gate.
Four generations of Cranneys have farmed the same land, and they take the long view on soil health — because when your grandchildren will farm the same fields, you can't afford to mine the soil for short-term gains.
5. The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry — Farmington, New Mexico
NAPI (Navajo Agricultural Products Industry) is one of the largest farming operations in the American Southwest, and one of the most important enterprises of the Navajo Nation. Operating on over 70,000 acres in the high desert of northwestern New Mexico, NAPI grows a variety of crops including potatoes, using water from the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project.
NAPI's potato operation is significant not just for its scale but for what it represents. The Navajo Nation has historically faced food sovereignty challenges, with many communities located in food deserts. NAPI's agricultural operations help address this by growing food on Navajo land, managed by Navajo people, for the benefit of the Navajo Nation.
Their potatoes are grown at high altitude in the arid climate of the Colorado Plateau — conditions that require sophisticated irrigation systems but also produce potatoes with excellent flavor and storage qualities. The low humidity means fewer disease problems, and the intense high-desert sunshine drives robust growth.
NAPI represents something larger than just potato farming: it's food sovereignty in action. Growing your own food, on your own land, on your own terms. It's a powerful model that resonates far beyond the Navajo Nation.
Why This Matters
Potato farming isn't just agriculture — it's a community. There are roughly 10,000 potato farms in the United States, producing over 40 billion pounds of potatoes annually. Behind those numbers are families, histories, and a level of expertise that takes generations to develop.
At Potatuhs, we believe these farmers deserve more recognition and more support. That's part of why we exist. Yes, we sell potato-themed hoodies and hats (and they're great, obviously). But our bigger mission is to celebrate and support the potato community — from the farmers who grow them to the people who love them.
We're working on ways to connect our community directly with potato farmers, including our initiative to provide free Potatuhs t-shirts to anyone selling potatoes at a farmers market. It's a small start, but it's a start.
Because the potato farmers of this country are doing essential, difficult, underappreciated work. The least we can do is learn their names.
