By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

URBANA, Ohio — Red Gold. Purple Majesty. Norland Red. Yukon Gold. Russian Banana. Red Thumb. Rose Finn Apple.

No, these were not entries in the Kentucky Derby. Rather, they are just seven of the close to 4,000 varieties of potatoes around the world.

Potatoes are the world’s fourth-largest food crop behind corn, wheat and rice. According to the Potato Assoc. of America headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., varieties are categorized into a few main groups, such as russets, reds, whites, yellows (also called Yukons) and purples.

While many still associate the potato with Idaho, the spud grows quite well here in Ohio. At Michael Farms near Urbana, the potato is very much part of one family’s livelihood.

The spud is grown on this 2,500-acre farm, as are green beans, cabbage and sweet corn. Green beans comprise 1,000 acres on this farm and potatoes once numbered 500 acres. That acreage is now down to just 100.

Scott Michael and his brothers, Todd and Curt, have been growing since the 1970s and their father began in 1958. Their grandfather farmed at different locations. Today the family has 35 full-time and 100 seasonal workers, with an annual revenue of $15 million. The migrant crew is housed in a 20-unit apartment complex.

“We’re filling a gap for produce buyers who are trying to source out to Kroger’s and other outlets,” Scott Michael said. “Here in Ohio we have a late summer season so we’re digging potatoes the last week of July, and our final digs are around Halloween. We keep them in temperature-controlled storage, and this helps keep them dormant so they don’t start sprouting.”

Ohio has the second-most number of potato chip manufacturers in the nation. Frito Lay, near Wooster, still processes potatoes for its “chipper” operation, though most of its potatoes come from states like Michigan and Wisconsin.

“Ohio once was a huge supplier of potatoes for these potato chip companies but many growers, like ourselves, stick to growing, packaging and shipping them,” Michael said.

During the 1920s and 1930s, potato chip companies relied on Ohio growers to supply them with chipping potatoes. But then most farmers realized that corn, soybeans and wheat required less maintenance. Potatoes, Michael explained, need a somewhat sandy soil for ideal growing conditions.

“The potato grows well in Ohio, but they don’t end up being a product that distinguishable compared to one grown in other areas of the country,” he said. “There is no niche market when it comes to growing potatoes. They’re not as in tune as, say, fresh green beans or corn.

“In addition, Ohio cannot compete with the acreage of potatoes grown in Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.”

His family plants the vegetables 2-3 times each week all spring and half the summer in order to have product to harvest all the time at the right stage of growth. The Michaels prepare for the growing season a year in advance with a selection of cover crops along with strip tillage and some winter cover crop.

“This gets the soil in the condition we want it to be in for the next season,” he said. “We’re in a three-year rotation. We grow green beans one year, potatoes or corn the next and then maybe corn and potatoes the following year. Each crop takes a different process.

“From a natural resource standpoint we’re blessed with some very good soil and some very good groundwater, and that enables us to have a continuous supply (of potatoes). There are so many varieties of potatoes for people to choose from, but many retailers and consumers are only concerned with the broad categories like the russets or whites.

“The good thing about potatoes from a grower’s standpoint is they have a longer storage life than a lot of other vegetables.”

To this day the family specializes in supplying grocery retailers and foodservice distributors in Ohio and surrounding states with top-quality fresh produce, including potatoes. And the family is innovative – Michael’s was the first farm in Ohio to install a center pivot irrigation system in 1965. There are 25 of those in place at this time.

The Michaels started with 130 acres and it is now the largest vegetable farm in the state, encompassing nearly 3,000 acres.

Ramseyer Farm, located near Wooster in Wayne County, was once a huge supplier of potatoes for nearby Frito Lay. Don Ramseyer, former president of the Ohio Vegetable and Potato Growers Assoc., said his family grew the vegetable for more than 70 years.

His grandfather, A.C. Ramseyer, purchased the land near Smithville around the turn of the century. It started as a dairy farm, but in 1923 A.C. planted his first potato and wheat crops. In 1932, disaster struck. A fire swept through the dairy barn, killing all 100 Guernsey cows.

After the fire, A.C. decided to focus on growing crops. He sold 100-pound bags of potatoes to customers who came to the farm, and he began trucking the bags to Cleveland, Mansfield and Wayne.

A.C. died in 1948, turning over the farm to sons Alvin and Arden. The family sold potatoes to Frito Lay for nearly 50 years, but in the early 2000s it became harder for smaller growers to compete with massive operations with acres in the thousands.

Just a few years ago the family grew 250 acres of wheat and 250 acres of chipping and processing potatoes. Their varieties included Andover, Snowden and Dakota Crisp. And they did so with success, enduring light pest and disease pressures.

Last year was the last of the potatoes at this farm, as the family has turned toward agritainment, with a corn maze of 60 acres of pumpkins. Ramseyer said growing corn is a lot easier than potatoes. After a total of four knee surgeries and one rotator cuff surgery, easier sounds better.

“I beat myself up growing potatoes,” he added.