RPE Inc. has entered into a partnership with Lynn and Jeffery McCullough, the father-and-son team who own Lynn McCullough Farms LLC, Spud Grower Farms LLC and The Spud Seller LLC in Colorado's San Luis Valley, whereby RPE will serve as the exclusive marketer for Spud Grower Farms and The Spud Seller.

This season, Spud Grower Farms grew russet Norkotahs, Rio Grandes and Canelas, totaling just over 1,500 acres. After performing a $4 million expansion to the grading line, The Spud Seller has one of the more modern potato-packaging facilities in the San Luis Valley. The partnership will provide RPE with more than 2 million 50-pound units of potatoes to sell each year from Spud Grower Farms and other Colorado-based growers.

McCulloughs' facility grades year-round and is capable of packing 10 million pounds of potatoes per month, giving RPE a constant supply of Colorado potatoes. The Spud Seller packs cartons, packages in all sizes, packs and ranges. The facility is third-party certified by Scientific Certification Systems.

"RPE is a good partner for our operations," Lynn McCullough said in a press release. "Both RPE and our farms and packaging facilities are family-owned and operated, and have many of the same goals in common, including the desire to pass our family-owned businesses on to future generations. We share the same values and integrity; have similar family connections and have a strong focus on the future of the potato industry."

Lynn McCullough's family has been farming in the San Luis Valley since the 1930s, and Lynn joined the operation in 1974, farming with his father until 1987 when he and his wife, Shirley, purchased The Spud Seller. Lynn has been growing and packing potatoes since then. In 2009 Lynn's son, Jeffery, and his wife, Holly, joined the operation, creating the fourth generation of the family-owned operations.

"As growers first, we can identify with Lynn and Jeffery, while also focusing on the goals of our customers," Russell Wysocki, chief executive officer of RPE, said in the press release. "We believe that the additional volume and packaging operations will yield greater options for our customers, while delivering on our corporate initiatives for quality execution through category leadership."