Pennsylvania program supports growth of organic potato market

The Troyer family has been cultivating potatoes in northern Pennsylvania for three generations. Early on, they launched a potato chip brand, which the family’s company, Troyer Inc., sold about 15 years ago. And up until just last year, the farmers relied entirely on conventional farming practices to grow all of those spuds, most of which were sold to manufacturers making chips, fries and more.

But the current generation of Troyers, including brothers Zack and Colt Troyer, found the status quo unacceptable. For one thing, the brothers are keen to return to the company’s roots and launch a brand, rather than just selling their potatoes to other companies. But they also reject continuing the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides to manage the farm.

“We’re exposed to it all the time,” says Zack Troyer. “Our employees are also exposed to it. We all even bring it home to our families, on our clothes. But there’s no market in the Northeast United States for organic potato processing.”

That’s about to change. The brothers launched a separate organic potato products company, called Folkland Foods, which this month received a $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) investment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Troyers will use the money to expand operations, devote increasingly more acreage to organic farming and produce a diversity of branded potato products, beginning with Farm Fries early next year.

Related:Expo West NEXTY Awards nominations close Dec. 2

“I’m excited to announce this $3 million investment in Folkland Foods, a company that is leading the way in organic farming and sustainable practices, built on hard work and know-how developed right here in Pennsylvania. This expansion will create 50 new, good-paying jobs and significantly boost the local economy in Erie County, all while reinforcing Pennsylvania’s reputation as a leader in agriculture and food production,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says in a news release. Of course, the project aims to advance sustainable farming practices, which also is one of the Troyer brothers' goals.

Folkland Foods' first product will be frozen, organic french fries, which are expected to hit retailers in early 2025.

Within a few years, the brothers anticipate that the entire farm—about 2,000 acres—will have transitioned to organic. But thanks in part to a storage facility that the state funds will underwrite, they also believe that more farmers in the area will also embrace organic farming methods. For now, based on the 500 Troyer-owned acres that currently are transitioning to organic—it’ll be more like 1,000 acres by the end of 2024—it’s the only commercial organic potato farm in the entire Northeastern United States.

“One thing the grant will pay for is cooperative storage. We will manage it because we know how to store potatoes,” says Troyer. “That will open up a lot of production because you have a limited season for potato harvesting, and you need to get them into proper storage to extend that processing.” And storing potatoes, he said, requires custom facilities and a whole lot of savvy. The grant also helps pay for a freezer warehouse, for finished frozen potato products. The project, with a total cost of $7 million, also includes a wastewater treatment plant and a variety of site improvements.

“We don’t want to be the only organic potato farmers in Erie or in Pennsylvania. The goal is to bring on board much more organic,” Colt Troyer says. Farmers who try to grow organic face many obstacles, says Zack Troyer, an agronomist as well as a farmer. The work is extremely technical; whereas conventional farmers just depend on chemicals to yield robust crops, organic growers rely on natural means to protect the potatoes from disease and pests. As a result, managing the fields demands especially nuanced, creative and focused attention. Among other things, the obstacles have made it tough for big operations to scale up to organic.

In addition, the industry is highly consolidated, and organic doesn’t figure into potato farming the way it does with many other agricultural products, from berries to greens to grains. But unlike Midwest states, small farmers dominate Pennsylvania’s agricultural sector—and tidier operations have a better chance of success with growing organic potatoes, Zack Troyer says. 

And for farmers that grow even 50 to 100 acres of organic potatoes, “they can make a very good living off of that.”

“We see the writing on the wall. We don’t see many farmers sticking with it. Most kids are leaving the farm,” says Zack Troyer. “So we see a big opportunity for our farm and we want to share it with other people. Potato farming has a long history here. It would be sad if it just drifted away.”