Todd Dimbat checks potatoes on their way into storage at Amstad Farming near Echo. Staff photo by Lee Farren A potato digger loads a truck in a field near Echo.Staff photo by Lee Farren

High-quality spuds fill storage
Rising costs have growers looking at possible alternatives

By LEE FARREN
for the East Oregonian

ECHO - The dense, earthy smell of 3,000 tons of fresh Russet Norkotas permeated the air inside the potato storage building at Amstad Farming Co. near Echo.

Midway down the long, tunnel-like building the huge arm of a potato piler swung slowly back and forth under a spotlight, building tiers of potatoes. The big Norkotas rolled into the building on a conveyor belt stretching back through the half-moon of sunlight at the far end.

A mile away, five diggers worked in the big irrigated circles, kicking up dust as they dragged potatoes out of the ground and loaded them into trucks. At the storage buildings, the trucks unloaded tons of potatoes into giant bins. Workers checked the potatoes for quality and cleanliness as they moved along conveyor belts and disappeared into the vast storage facilities.

"It takes about a week to fill one of these buildings," said Todd Dimbat, one of Amstad Farming's partners. "We get 6,000 tons per building, and we have six buildings in Umatilla County."

That's 36,000 tons of potatoes from just one operation. With about 28,000 acres devoted to spuds, Umatilla and Morrow counties produce more than half the potatoes grown in Oregon.

"Over all, potatoes are probably the No. 1 dollar irrigated crop we grow. We grow a lot per acre, plus we have lots of acres," said Don Horneck, extension agronomist at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Yields this year are average or above average, Horneck said, with outstanding quality. Local potatoes go to both the fresh market and to processing plants for french fries and other products.

Amstad Farming raises only fresh potatoes, selling them to supermarkets throughout the year. Though Tony Amstad is happy with the price he's getting, he thinks it will improve in the next few months.

"Idaho is the leader and they dictate what happens in prices," he said. "Their crop is off 10 to 15 percent, and that helps increase prices. But you don't know these things until the harvest is completely over with, in early November."

Amstad estimated his costs for fertilizer, fuel, labor and rent have increased 30 percent or more over the past few years. High prices for wheat and corn have pushed up rental rates on cropland, while a shortage of workers has led to higher wages. And fuel costs have skyrocketed for farmers just as they have for everyone else.

So even though the crop is good and prices at least average, some local growers are considering switching some of their potato acres to corn or wheat next year.

"The prices of ethanol crops entice you to plant them," Amstad said. He isn't planning to cut his potato production next year, but he understands why other growers might switch to a higher-value crop.

One of those growers is John Stahl of Stahl Hutterian Brethren, who farms about 3,000 acres of potatoes in Umatilla and Morrow counties.

"We can do better by going to alternate crops other than potatoes and onions," he said. Stahl sells about 15 percent of his crop as fresh potatoes. The rest are processed for french fries.

"The fresh market has softened, but the fry market is steady because everything is contracted a year in advance," he said. Like Amstad, he expects prices to rise within the next few months as growers begin selling potatoes out of storage.

Even with improved prices, though, Stahl is thinking about corn. This year he planted corn for the first time, raising 1,200 acres for the ethanol market. He plans to plant more next year.

Stahl said the potato market has not kept up with rising costs. He remembers a 10-percent return on potatoes, but has not seen that for a number of years. Potatoes are a high capital crop, with a high risk of loss from disease, he said.

"Farmers who can go a different route don't need to plant potatoes," Stahl said. "They can make more return on their investment in a surer way."