“Demand for our new potatoes is pretty high right now, because we’re the only farm that has them. None of the other farms have begun harvesting their new potatoes yet,” says Tom Wingard of Wingard Farms, which is located in Big Lake, Minnesota. “The old potatoes still sitting in warehouses are starting to look pretty ugly.”Prices will drop after Labor Day
“After Labor Day, the price for our potatoes will go down. It’s okay now, but it’s going to get pretty brutal, because of the excess supply that’s going to be out there,” according to Wingard. “Right now, we’re selling as fast as we can.” Wingard Farms grows its potatoes on a 10-week season. Once the potatoes have been harvested, they’re washed, packed and shipped out, often on the same day. “Consumption will level out over the next few weeks. Long-term, families are smaller and cooking fewer meals at home,” Wingard said.
Wingard says the weather has been good for his potato crop this year. “Conditions are good for growing.” The farm competes with other potato farms in Wisconsin, Idaho, Colorado and as far west as Washington. “Our demand is local, around the Minneapolis area. We’re beginning to see demand from other states, such as North Carolina, New York and Pennsylvania. In the south, Georgia and Alabama are asking for our potatoes, so our demand comes mainly from south and east of Minneapolis,” shared Wingard.
School kids
“Right now, our biggest challenges are labor and the cost of labor. We pay above the minimum wage here. The high school kids who are picking our crops are going back to school soon, so we’re going to lose them. We can’t add the cost of labor to the price of our potatoes. We have to pay for that out of our profit,” said Wingard.
Contact:
Tom Wingard
Wingard Farms
Tel: 763-263-2635