The 2016 production season is well underway at Black Gold Farms! We have finished planting in Texas and Florida, while we are just getting rolling in Missouri. There is something about this time of year - the start of a new growing season - that brings a positive energy to the entire team.

The Do-Over

One of the great things about being a potato farmer is that every year, we get to start over. Of course we are not starting from scratch. We learn from our past experiences, but we do get a “do-over” in growing the crop. At the early part of the season the crop is still at its fullest potential - Mother Nature has yet to wreak much havoc. Experience tells us however, that full potential will not last forever, and we will certainly have to deal with many issues along the way. Some of these issues we may not have encountered before and some we are very well versed in handling. It is how we deal with these curve balls that really separates success from failure. The way the Black Gold Farms team manages these issues is second to none, not just the potato industry, but in all of farming!

Teams & Transparency

One of the hallmarks of the Black Gold Farms team, is the ability to stay positive as the season moves along. Even after some of those curve-balls alluded to earlier have been thrown out, our team has the confidence in their abilities, as well as, the abilities of those we work with, to help us through those trying times. In fact, these curve-balls bring challenges to the Black Gold Farms team that keep them engaged and energized. An engaged and energized team is a highly functioning one that attracts the “best of the best” in the industry.

We talk about the Black Gold Farms teams in many different forms and fashions. We have different types of teams. There is the Service Team and the Sales Team. There is the Fresh Potato Team and the Chip Potato Team. There is also the Delhi, LA Farm Team and the Rhodesdale, MD Farm Team. These are just a few of the different types of teams that make up Black Gold Farms. The most important attribute for success is for all of these teams to be working together and striving for the strategic goals of the business. This requires an abundance of communication, understanding, and sometimes even sacrifice. It requires individual teams to be humble with a clear focus on what’s in front of them, but also a resolve to support every other Black Gold Farms team in their quests for success. It forces us all to find new ways to drive transparency throughout the business, with the understanding that the more context our team members can put around an issue, the better they can make proper decisions on a daily basis. It’s never just about one team.

New Season, New Opportunities

In 2016 we have some new and exciting activities in store beyond the typical excitement of the growing crop.

• We are planning on a small commercial production run of sweet potatoes in Pearsall TX. Last year we had a small trial in Texas, and with the demand for locally grown sweets we see this as an exciting opportunity.

• We continue to refine and restructure some of the processes at the Delhi LA sweet potato farms. Investing in items that will drive efficiency and improve pack out.

• We will transition all fresh red potato growing in the Red River Valley to irrigated acres, building on our success with this type of production last year.

• Finally, we will continue to utilize new varieties and ratchet up land quality requirements in chipping potato production as we strive to improve yields and reduce costs. We are doing all of this well maintaining our focus on capturing the data to verify our production practices as we work to understand our environmental footprint and how we can improve it.

We are proud of the teamwork at Black Gold Farms and excited about the positive energy the new season brings. We look forward to serving our customers and the greater supply chain for 2016!

- Eric Halverson, CEO of Black Gold Farms