Alice in Dairyland says The Vegetable Harvest Is Here

While traveling thousands of miles during the busy summer months, I saw a lot of beautiful Wisconsin scenery. Now, as the summer ends and fall begins, that scenery is changing. The leaves on the trees are already starting to change colors. And many fields have a different look too. The fields that were full and green all summer are now bare because the harvest season is upon us.

Wisconsin farmers grow a wide variety of vegetables, and lots of them, too. Wisconsin ranks in the top five in the nation in the production of snap beans, green peas, sweet corn and carrots for processing, as well as potatoes, cucumbers, and cabbage. This summer, I had the opportunity to visit a couple different vegetable farms – Peck’s Farm Market west of Spring Green, and Okray Family Farms in Plover.

At Peck’s Farm Market, I visited with Brad Peck who took me on a tour of their diverse vegetable farmland. Of the farm’s 400 acres, about 150 acres are used each year for sweet corn.

Last year, Brad told me they harvested sweet corn every day from July 3 to September 10. Each day, thousands of ears of sweet corn are harvested. With the two-row harvester Peck’s uses, they harvest 114 ears of sweet corn a minute! Peck’s contracts about 100 acres of sweet corn each year for processing; the remaining 50 acres are sold at fresh market.

The other acres on Peck’s farm are growing watermelon, pumpkins and squash. Peck’s squash harvester was very interesting to me since it was something they modified themselves to make the harvest quicker, easier, and safer. They created a conveyor belt system, so when a squash is picked, it goes into a basket not far off the ground. When the basket is full, it gets pushed onto the conveyor that carries it to a wagon. Another worker pulls the basket to an open area on the wagon until the wagon is full of baskets.

This is a great example of how farmers are innovative, modernizing their business of agriculture to remain profitable and competitive, just like other businesses do.

The harvesting area is also covered by a canopy, keeping the workers safe from the harsh sunlight.

Okray Family Farms of Plover has nearly 8,000 acres of vegetable farmland in central Wisconsin. About 2,000 of those acres grow the crop that Okray is best known for: potatoes. When I toured Okray Family Farms in Plover, I didn’t get to see their potatoes being harvested because the ground was too soft from the recent rain.

I did get to see the huge tractors they use to dig the potatoes. Their tractors can dig four rows of potatoes at a time. The harvester that picks up the potatoes picks up 12 rows at a time and fills a truck with 30,000 pounds of potatoes in just six minutes.

Walter Sexton took me through the processing facility to see how the potatoes are processed. While traveling through the building, the potatoes are separated based on size, and packed accordingly. This step ensures that the potatoes you buy in stores will all be about the same size. Okray packages potatoes in a variety of different bags and boxes and under different labels, too, as they supply for companies like Green Giant and Roundy’s.

Of the remaining acreage, more than 3,000 acres grow sweet corn for processing, nearly 1,500 acres grow snap beans for processing, and over 200 acres are in green peas.

Both farms produce a large quantity of vegetables. They are just two among many farms of different sizes across the state.

Truly the state’s “vegetable garden,” Wisconsin farms grow healthy products that you can buy in your local grocery store or at a local farmer’s market. Visit www.savorwisconsin.com to find local vegetable farmers or farmer’s markets near you!

Alice in Dairyland is Wisconsin’s agricultural ambassador. She travels over 40,000 miles each year to spread the word about our agricultural industry. Alice in Dairyland can be reached by writing to DATCP, 2811 Agriculture Drive, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53718.

You can schedule Alice for an upcoming event by contacting the Alice in Dairyland Program at (608) 224-5080 or by e-mail at DATCPAlice@wisconsin.gov.