Black Gold Farms Kicks Off the Red River Valley Red Potato Harvest
GRAND FORKS, ND - Black Gold Farms is kicking off its harvest in the Red River Valley with a host of new innovations and major investments.
New this season to the Red River Valley is Black Gold Farms’ Sangres and Dakota Ruby Red potatoes.
“[Sangres] is a variety that holds its quality and color through the winter months very well,” said Keith Groven, Fresh Sales Manager. “This offers a great solution for long-term storage, and ensures that we can supply our customers with Black Gold Farms-grown potatoes throughout the entire season.”
Dakota Ruby Red, developed at North Dakota State University, yields a consistent round shape, vibrant red color, and smooth skin.
“Our customers have a great opportunity to showcase Rubies as a premium red variety in their bulk displays, promoting them as a limited-time offering to create interest and drive incremental sales in both the retail and foodservice channels,” Groven continued.
Some of the company’s most significant investments this season include expanded irrigation efforts and a number of upgrades to its packing facility in East Grand Forks, MN. These facility upgrades will result in greater productivity, increased capacity, and strengthen potato quality throughout the storage season.
“We’ve invested heavily in upgrades to our humidity and ventilation operations, and we’ve also made plans that will help increase our overall packing and storage capacity,” said Eric Halverson, CEO. “In addition, our Odenberg optical sorter is a huge help to ensure consistent quality and increase our desired output all season.”
Black Gold Farms is anticipating another high quality crop this season. Harvest will run for about four weeks with the majority of the harvest stored, packed, and shipped out of the East Grand Forks, MN packing facility through April 2016.
