Iott Seed Farms

Yesterday marked the end of an era as the Iott Seed Farms team hauled our last gas-powered potato truck to the scrapyard. We had a small fleet of these starting in the late 1990s and used them until the early 2010s, when they were replaced by large diesel-powered trucks. At that point, we put a tender box on this truck and used it to haul fertilizer and grain seed until 2017, when it was replaced by a truck with a substantially larger capacity.

Chris Iott of Social Sound LLC — also Den and Greg Iott's brother — does a good job reaching people with important news and information about agriculture. If you own or operate a farm, we'd love to put you in touch with him.

The seven full-time members of the Iott Seed Farms team — Den Iott, Greg Iott, Bryan Fischer, Randy Fischer, Dan Marcusse, Tom Dixon and Deryk Henderson — have more than 180 years of farming experience, the vast majority of it at Iott Seed Farms. Iott Seed Farms: Celebrating 50 years in Kalkaska County, 150-plus years in Michigan.

Iott Seed Farms utilizes a three-year rotation for potatoes and plants cover crops in the seasons in between to assure our soil remains healthy. The first year after we grow potatoes, we use wheat or rye as a cover crop. In the second year, we use an oats-radish mix to maximize nutrients in the soil. Iott Seed Farms takes its role as a steward of the land and other resources very seriously. For more on how we farm responsibly, please visit iottseed.com/how.

Thank you to the veterans who are members of the Iott Seed Farms spring shipping and fall harvesting crew as well as our friends and neighbors in Kalkaska County and beyond who served. The Iott Seed Farms team appreciates you.

Before our seven potato trucks, tanker truck, dump truck and tender truck go into hibernation for the winter, the Iott Seed Farms team gives them an oil change and a filter change, then addresses any issues that may have arisen with them during harvest season.

A great deal of fall work is simply us preparing for next spring. Part of that work is shuffling fertilizer tanks to fields that will be used to grow potatoes next year. Here is Randy next to a couple of tanks. We use a crane truck to lift them, and Randy guides them onto the proper place on the trailer.

All the Blackberry variety of potatoes that Iott Seed Farms grew this year have now been harvested, washed and shipped to Great Lakes Potato Chip Co. They will process those potatoes to make more of those delicious purple potato chips that many of you can't seem to get enough of!

Irrigation season is long over, but irrigation maintenance season is in full swing. We took this wheel off to replace a bad wheel bearing. We would much rather fix it now than have the entire wheel and hub come off next summer in a field of potato plants.

FAQ: WHERE CAN I GET SOME OF THOSE YUMMY PURPLE CHIPS? Iott Seed Farms grows Blackberry variety potatoes and sells them to Great Lakes Potato Chip Co. in Traverse City. Due to the limited supply of purple potatoes, those chips are available seasonally and for a short time each year. The good news: They are available now! You can order some from the Great Lakes Potato Chip Co. website or look for them in a store near you.