A commitment to food safety and meeting top grading standards are paying off for the Schmidt family.
Peter Schmidt and son Juston were recently recognized by Peak of the Market and received the Grower of the Year award.
Peak of the Market chief executive officer Pamela Kolochuk said the award is given annually to a Manitoba potato grower who supplies produce to the not-for-profit vegetable wholesaler.
“There are four factors we consider — co-operation, food safety, returns and reductions, and grade out,” she said.
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Co-operation reflects the year-round dealings that the grower has with Peak staff. Food safety is rated according to current federal farm safety standards. Returns and reductions and grade out pertain to the overall quality and cleanliness of product delivered to Peak including the amount of dockage.
Kolochuk said eight growers were vying for the award, which was based on the 2020 crop and presented at Peak’s annual general meeting.
“All growers have high grading standards,” Kolochuk said. “The Schmidts had 100 percent on food safety and no returns or reductions. They’ve been working to improve in these areas and it paid off.”
Juston Schmidt said he and his family are honoured. “They’re a great company to supply. They have high standards.”
He credited the people they employ, including agronomists with KR Crop Check, and Heartland Fresh Pak that sorts and washes their potatoes, with helping his family win the award.
The Schmidts’ farm, located near Winkler, Man., was started by Juston’s grandfather, then passed to his father and uncles. His mother, Hannah, and his wife, Stacey, now work with his father and himself.
They follow a three- to four-year rotation of corn, beans and wheat but their main crop during the past 10 years has been potatoes. They grow 10 different varieties with red-skinned Norland and Sangre and yellow-skinned Musica being the top three.
About 80 percent of their harvest goes to Peak with the remainder to Simplot Canada and McCain Foods.
In 2020 they grew about 12.7 tonnes of potatoes thanks to good weather conditions. Juston said the Schmidts rely on spring run-off as a moisture source and don’t irrigate.
“In 2020, we had more rain and favourable weather with moisture in the ground. It was a better yielding year,” he said. “It was one of our best crops.”
He added that the hot, dry conditions throughout the 2021 growing season resulted in a 10 to 25 percent yield decrease.
