ANTIGO, WI — Potato shipper Dave Cofer offers a wide range of potato varieties and packs from his office at Farmers Potato Exchange Inc., located here.

“We have a lot of white potatoes,” he said. “Whites are the largest part of our volume. That keeps a little niche for me.” White potatoes tend to be most-commonly produced in this part of the state, as well as central Wisconsin, he said.

Dave Cofer, owner of Farmers Potato Exchange Inc., is unsure of the age of the safe in his office but said it is older than his business, which was launched in 1965 by his father, Charlie Cofer.Farmers Potato Exchange also ships fresh market yellow and russet potatoes. The area around Antigo is best-known for its seed potatoes, and Cofer has plenty of seed to sell, as well.

“This area is known for quality seed. The seed programs here are so well established — so well-run — that they’re known throughout the country. All the fields are monitored and kept disease-free. The conditions are right. We’re isolated from commercial production, so there is less risk of something spreading,” Cofer said.

The firm was started by his father, Charlie Cofer, in 1965. Dave Cofer received a degree in industrial engineering and practiced in Oshkosh, WI, before joining the family business in 1981. Farmers Potato Exchange was a grower, as well as a shipper, until the farm was sold five years ago.

“I work with a lot of growers, and sometimes we have some (financial) interest in the crops. I represent independent growers, as well as packers. In this area there are some fairly small growers and some big ones,” Cofer said.

He added, “We are small compared to a lot of people in the state. But we’ve had the same customers for many, many years. We sell good product at competitive prices. We do well for what we are. I like where we’re at.”

In addition to packaged fresh market potatoes, he sells to processors.

Furthermore, “I ship a lot of bulk and totes to repackers, who are as far as Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. “The Southeast is one of my big regions.”

His repack customers work throughout the year and order from Farmers Potato Exchange as they need to replenish their stock.

Cofer said it is difficult for his small growers to become food-safety compliant, but the food-safety interest “is here to stay and I’m trying to get all of them into compliance. We’ve always done all we could to assure the quality of the product.”

The number of Wisconsin potato growers has declined over the years. The number of customers has also decreased due to consolidation.

“It is very competitive, but we have a niche and take care of the people we have been dealing with, and hang on to them.”