SeedWorld, August 17, 2020: "Farmers Face Uncertainty in COVID-19"

Amber is interviewed by Laura Handke on how COVID-19 has affected our operation so far. Laura also chats with 3 other growers in this interview. Check out the full article here.

Potatoes Up in Demand

Based 50 miles north of Denver, Strohauer Farms has been growing and supplying potatoes to northern Colorado and beyond for more than four generations. 

“Our family has been growing potatoes in Weld County since 1910,” says Amber Strohauer, “My parents work full-time on the operation, and I had the opportunity to come back as the fourth generation to work on the farm.” 

Today, Strohauer serves as Business Development for the operation that has grown to produce shallot onions, wheat, corn and triticale in addition to potatoes, helping to secure both retail and food service market opportunities. 

“For us, 2020 has been a very optimistic outlook, and we feel really fortunate that we are here (north of Denver) and situated a little differently than other farms. We have always been more retail focused than food service, although we do both, and that has allowed us to thrive during the pandemic,” she says, “We have been busier than ever, and we know how fortunate we are.”

In 2013, the La Salle, Colo., company expanded operations to Clayton, N.M., as well as securing fields in Texas, using both of the new locations to produce Russet, Yukon and fingerling potatoes both conventionally and organically to fill the early-crop gap for packers. 

“The majority of what we produce in the South is shipped out; we don’t usually bring anything into Colorado to package in our own branding. The Colorado piece of the operation sees all of the branding and retail,” Strohauer shares, noting that the operation currently packs around 200 different sizes of potatoes. 

The challenges created by the pandemic for the Strohauer operation have been positive for the business, with demand and consumption of fresh potatoes peaking during the March-April initial stay-at-home orders. 

“It has been challenging to stay year-round this year because we had to move so much product for demand,” Strohauer says. “We aren’t a 24/7 packing warehouse, so it was hard to keep up with demand. I have never seen so many walk-ins in one day as what we say during COVID-19. The door never shut.” 

Strohauer credits much of this success to the business’ proximity to the Denver area and the area’s booming local and organic food movement. She also shares that, she believes, the United States is revisiting a simpler time, at least in terms of family togetherness. 

“The one thing that we have seen throughout this pandemic, is families coming together to share meals. And as a potato grower, that makes me excited; people are familiar with potatoes, they store well, and families are adjusting to eating at home — all of which have helped to drive demand for the crop,” she says.