Newsletters & Blog

September 2024

Starch Getting Excited for National Potato Month

How do you prefer your potatoes? Baked? Fried? Or even scalloped? Well in Michigan we prefer chips!

September is National Potato Month and Michigan is home to a plethora of potato farmers. Out of Michigan's 83 counties 40 of them grow potatoes!

Seventy percent of Michigan's potato crop goes to the chip industry making Michigan the number one producer of chipping potatoes in the U.S. One in every four bags of potato chips in the U.S. are made with Michigan grown potatoes. You may recognize the brand Better Made but Michigan is home to other chip companies such as Great Lakes Potato Chip Company and Downey's Potato Chips.

Grab your favorite flavor of potato chips and dive into Michigan potatoes, literally!

In Michigan, potatoes are planted in May and harvested in September. Potatoes love Michigan weather because they thrive in a moist, cool climate and sandy soil. Potatoes are planted six to twelve inches apart and in thirty-four-inch rows. Potato farmers stay busy ensuring that the crop is getting enough nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium because the sandy soil does not hold nutrients as well as other soils.

Now that you know the basics, give one of these lesson plans a try!

• Potatoes: More Than Fries (Grades K-2)
• Powerful Potato (Grades 3-5)
• Where Does it Come From? (Grades 3-5)

Another fantastic way to learn more about potatoes and support local farms is to visit Michigan Potatoes website and/or a farmers' market near you!