Baley: No major hiccups in production thus far
Baley: No major hiccups in production thus far
Hollis Baley, director of marketing for Klamath Basin Fresh Organics LLC, said the cooperative is gearing up for its harvest to begin along normal timetables in September. KBFO is a cooperative of 17 family farms in the basin, all of which recognize the importance of sustainability. The majority of these family-based farms are third- and fourth-generation ag-related businesses.
The cooperative’s organic potato manifest includes russets, reds, Yukon Gold, Purple Majesty, Klamath Pearl and Purple Fiesta. Fingerlings include Ruby Crescent, Russian Banana, French and Amarosa.
She was asked about growing conditions during the 2014 production season. “Weather has been cooperative, quite hot actually,” Baley replied. “Planting went smoothly, and crops are growing steady and harvest will be right on time beginning in September. With the drought year, water was our limiting factor. So we weren’t able to add acres this year. But volume should be about the same as last year. Quality is looking good. No major hiccups thus far.”
Most of the cooperative’s potatoes are marketed throughout the country. On the export side, Baley said, “Our growers will be exporting more loads this year and hoping to gain new customers.”
Product is marketed under the “Klamath Basin Fresh Organics” label.
Klamath Basin offers a 100-percent paper option for its specialty potatoes and plans to continue its focus on paper packages completed last year. “We are hoping to increase sales of these paper packages, specifically with the 1.5-pound fingerling bags,” she noted.
The cooperative plans to do some large-scale domestic promotions this year at larger retail outlets to gather sales data and promote paper bags. The promotions will be six to eight weeks long and will include a large in-store display, paper ads and in-store demos. “Our goals are to help the retailer increase sales for potatoes by educating the consumer about our product,” Baley said.
