Okray Family Farms has been growing potatoes in Plover since 1905. They take pride in their long-standing Wisconsin roots and dedication to sustainability. Alex Okray is proud to be a part of the fourth-generation family potato farm.
Okray Family Farms grows, packages, markets and sells onsite. This makes them unique as they can control all aspects of their product in the supply chain. They sell potatoes as fresh produce to companies like Kwik Trip and grocery stores. Okray also sells to brokers everywhere east of the Mississippi. Along with potatoes, Okray grows corn, beans and peas for canning companies.
Potato growers use precision agriculture tools to grow sustainable and healthy food.
Okray Family Farms uses an irrigation system. Potatoes require half an inch of water each day to flourish. Okray maps out their soil in their current fields to determine how much water each part will need.
Thanks to precision agriculture, the irrigation systems know how much water to apply to each field based on how much water the soil can hold. The system pivots its way around the field to increase or decrease the amount of water applied.
Okray Family Farms is proud to grow Wisconsin Healthy Grown® potatoes. The program holds growers accountable for using inputs responsibly. As a member of the Healthy Grown program, the Okray team receives guidance from UW-Extension professionals on best practices for applying nutrients and crop protection to their potatoes.
“Everything we use we use based on [Environmental Protection Agency] labels. We are not doing anything that is dangerous for the consumer. We go through a food safety audit every year,” Alex said. “We have an outside agency come in and check our chemical application records and make sure we are doing everything by the book. Everything that is going into the stores is healthy and safe to eat. It always is.”
Potato growers are working to make the Healthy Grown label familiar to consumers to build recognition and awareness of the quality potatoes grown in Wisconsin.
Another way farmers ensure safe practices on their farm is by using a system to trace their food. Since Okray Farms is involved with all aspects of the supply chain, they are in charge of labeling and packaging their potatoes.
On each bag of potatoes, there is a code that tells the customer where it was packaged.
“The code tells you the date it was packaged and field it came from,” Alex said. “Based off of the field we can determine when certain chemicals were applied, when the field was harvested, and can go all the way back to the seed that was used.”
If there were to ever be something wrong with the product, grocery stores can look at the code and trace it back to the farm. They can then check the management practices used to determine the problem and inform the proper channels.
These practices ensure customers are getting the healthiest and safest food possible.
Sustainability is one of the most important aspects of farming. For Okray, this comes in the form of taking care of the land. They farm nearly 8,000 acres and use a four-year crop rotation on the land.
Each year, they grow potatoes in a different field to restore the soil’s nutrients. This allows them to grow corn, beans and peas, and also allows the land to regenerate after growing potatoes.
“For us in means taking care of the land so we can keep using it to be successful and make a profit,” Alex said. “As owners we also feel responsible for taking care of it and making sure we don’t deplete resources.”
Alex takes pride in being a steward of the land.
“As owners of the land, we feel responsible for taking care of it. That mindset is something that carries through all growers. Every grower I have met with is the same way,” Alex said. “We want to take care of the land and make sure we are responsible.”
Leaders of the Land® is Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s brand for sharing sustainability stories. Monthly profiles highlight farmers across Wisconsin working hard to meet their environmental, social and economic goals.
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