COUDERSPORT — Any way you slice it, growing potatoes has helped one farm family here succeed with one of Potter County’s traditional crops.
Carl and Betsy Long of Long Farm outside of Coudersport are one of this year’s recipients of the annual National Outstanding Young Farmers Awards.
“Wow. That’s what I said when they called my name,” said Carl.
It’s been a long road for the couple, who have watched the farm grow over more than 15 years.
The win, they said, is a humbling experience.
“We did not get here by anything we did,” said Carl.
They credit a long list of people who work with them: nine full-time and 11 seasonal employees, brokers who supply equipment and services when they need it, the people who rent land to them, Extension and Farm Service staff, family and friends, and God.
“We don’t have flat land. We don’t have immigrant labor, but we do farm in some of the best communities with some of the best people,” Carl said. “In a farming community, the people you do business with end up becoming good friends. They care about your success. You try to do what you can to better their business so they can better your business.”
“We just want to express our appreciation for the people who help us,” Betsy said.
It’s somewhat of a departure from Carl’s agricultural roots; his grandfather was a dairy farmer who sold the herd before his birth. His first introduction to farming was through his science teacher’s dairy farm.
“I went to work for him and that got my interest in agriculture started,” he said.
Betsy, however, grew up on a dairy farm and knew Carl from when he attended a conservation camp with her older brother.
“We did not get along until I went away to college and came back,” Betsy said.
The two married May 31, 2007. They have three children: Mark Carl, 14, Emmett, 12 and Colette, 8.
Growing up, Carl was in 4-H and FFA, and eventually secured a Farm Service Agency loan and began raising heifers. By graduation, he had 21 animals, which he sold.
“I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Carl said. “I enjoyed working with the soil and watching things grow, making things better than they were.”
Instead, he rented land and planted sweet corn, which he sold to John F. Cope’s. Carl next rented land and equipment from Jim Leet and began growing green beans, wheat and hay on 500 acres at the current farm on Peet Brook Road.
They continued growing beans, corn and grain through 2012 when the market shifted and the colder, northern Pennsylvania climate challenged the crops they were growing.
“We bought the neighbor’s farm and we were looking for a crop that would be profitable,” Carl said. “That’s when we got into potato farming.”
Today, they grow potatoes, green beans, wheat and oats, on 2,400 acres ranging east to Harrison Valley, west to Roulette and north to Genesee. The bulk is potato — 10 million pounds in 2022 — and mainly chipping potatoes which they sell to 11 companies in Pennsylvania.
“We have cool nights and normally we have adequate rain,” Carl said. “Our higher elevation makes the potatoes have a higher solids content.”
Chipping potatoes are bred specifically to be white and have a higher amount of solids to water ratio so there is less splatter during frying.
“We’re still shipping potatoes we grew last year,” Carl said, noting the potatoes are stored in specific temperatures to slow or speed up the conversion of sugar into starch.
Frying potatoes into chips is a near-daily occurrence for the Longs to determine if the potatoes are ready to ship to the manufacturer. He expects to ship the final truckloads of potatoes in mid-March.
The Longs also worked with Penn State and the Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers to determine what type of russet potato would grow on Pennsylvania soils.
“A lot of russet varieties when you grow them in Pennsylvania, don’t look like the traditional russet. They’re all knobby,” Carl said.
However the trials were able to identify one russet variety that will grow in Pennsylvania, which the Longs grew in 2022 and contracts to Ore-Ida.
The couple picked up their award at the NOYF Congress held Feb. 16-19 in Appleton, Wis. They were nominated by Nicole Thompson, a Penn State extension agent. Each step of the process included a longer application, more photos and a smaller field, reaching the top 25 in September.
Having not heard any more by December, they figured they were out of the running. Except they were a finalist and a malfunctioning email caused them to miss several emails from organizers. A phone call soon cleared up the issue, they completed their paperwork and met the other finalists, whom they bonded with during the three days leading up to the award announcements when the Longs, Brad and Tara Peacock of Arkansas, Kyle and Rachel Zwieg of Wisconsin, and Jon and Amy Hegeman of Alabama were chosen as the 2023 recipients.
The selection criteria is based on the progress in an agricultural career, extent of soil and water conservation practices, and community involvement. The Longs are busy. Carl is a member of the Pennsylvania Potato Co-Op and the Ag Advisory Board for Coudersport School District. Betsy serves on the Farm Service Agency for Potter, McKean and Cameron counties and the Ellisburg Union Church.
She is also instrumental in sharing the story of agriculture with youth, sharing a book with kindergarten through second grade students for Ag Literacy Week and holding Farm Friday events at Northern Potter School District.
As a national winner, the Longs received an award from corporate sponsor John Deere and the opportunity to travel to represent the NOYF at future agricultural events.
