supds

WE LOVE POTATOES! WE LOVE MONTANA!

Today was pretty awesome. We got to visit Bausch's potatoes, which is a vertically integrated grower, processor, and distributor. MSU buys some of its fresh potato products from this locally owned farm, so we were lucky enough to spend most of our day there!

After a gorgeous drive out to Whitehall, Montana, we pulled up to the farm. We went down to closest field to look around until we were greeted by Mark, who showed us around the entire operation. Mark explained to us that the crop we were currently looking at was actually alfalfa. This was being grown on his land because potatoes had grown there for the 2 previous years, and it was time to give the soil a break. Alfalfa is particularly beneficial to enrich the soil that potatoes grow in. In another year or so, potatoes will be back on that field and alfalfa or a similar crop will grow where the potatoes are currently growing. That being said, Mark told us that he grows around 300 acres of potatoes every year!

After the field, we walked over to the cellar where all the potatoes are kept. This refrigerated building is 100' x 50' and was about half full of potatoes--left over from the October 08 harvest! Mark told us that they would process the rest of these in the summer months and then the cellar would be filled to the brim after the fall harvest. That's a lot of potatoes.

We passed through a door into the next room where we saw some machines and workers. The potatoes were brought into this second building on a conveyor belt where the first line of workers inspected the potatoes. The particularly bad ones were immediately discarded. After the first inspection, the potatoes were shaken in this rectangular pan to separate them by size and weight. The potatoes then travel down separate chutes depending on size. The biggest and the best were put into bags to be sent out as whole potatoes (for baking, mashing, etc). The smaller potatoes were put into boxes to be sent out for use as ingredients in recipes. A third batch of potatoes (which was an even mix of the biggest and the average) were sent on a belt higher up to be dropped into a large bin. These will be blanched and cut into either french fries or hash browns, bagged, sealed, and shipped out.


Talking with Mark and the other workers was a unique experience that gave me a completely new perspective on the foodservice industry. We discussed the turmoil of being a medium size farm, trying to keep the product local, and trying to keep on the tradition of a family business. I have so much respect for Mark and his family for doing what they do. He is so committed to keeping the operation alive!

Today, I felt like I was in an episode of 'how it's made'. Couldn't ask for more than that.

BUT, more came :)
We stopped at a bakery called Wheat Montana on the way home and I had a delicious and healthful veggie sandwich on Big Sky Wheat bread...and then a cream cheese and raspberry cinnamon roll the size of my head (no lie). Like I said, today was a very, very good day.

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