In the News: Potatoes go well with F.I.S.H.

After four hot, sweaty afternoons last week, working four to five hours a day, Newberg High School Future Farmers of America managed to harvest 14,000 pounds of potatoes from about an acre of land, according to senior Liz Mingay. Of that total, 10,000 pounds were delivered to Newberg’s F.I.S.H. (Friends In Service to Humanity) last week. The rest of the potatoes are being sold through Rotary and school connections.

The great potato harvest never would have happened if Bob Beckner hadn’t been such a great teacher (of agriculture-related courses) for so many years (then 35) that the Newberg High School FFA Alumni Association decided to honor him a few years ago. While tracking down alumni to invite to the ceremony, Alumni Association secretary Jennifer Blake stumbled across Chris Voigt, now on the Washington State Potato Commission.

Voigt couldn’t attend the party, but he connected the Newberg FFA to the Oregon Potato Commission, which approached the Newberg FFA chapter a year or so ago to see if it would like to help develop different varieties of potatoes.

Newberg agreed and got a $2,500 national FFA grant to do a pilot project. In addition to discounted rental rates for two plots of land totaling about an acre, the chapter spent its money on fertilizer, equipment, water usage and more. But plenty of organizations offered free help as well.

Baggenstos of Sherwood stored the seed potatoes and also donated an old two-row planter, which the students pulled behind a tractor to plant their crop. Marion Ag in St. Paul gave the students a discount on fertilizer.

Last week, the Oregon Potato Commission sent over a potato digger. Pulled behind a tractor, the digger’s blades unearthed the potatoes as students, parents and other supporters scrambled to pick them up and drop them into boxes provided by Amstad Farms of Sherwood. Nearly 30 chapter members were involved in some aspect of the project, Blake said, along with 17 adults, including parents, alumni and supporters.

Jill Smith, Newberg Graphic