Leveraging a unique position to elevate potato knowledge

As Alberta positions itself to be Canada’s top producer of potatoes, Farming Smarter positions itself to meet the growing demand for potato agronomy research.

Learn about the capacity, expertise, and equipment Farming Smarter is developing to answer agronomy and production questions for farmers and industry.

Breaking new ground in 2024, the team started small with a self-imposed cap of just a few potato trials. This exciting new venture required complete trust in the team to be able to quickly and properly develop the necessary skills.

Lewis Baarda manages the non-profit’s Field Tested program and drives agronomic innovations at the farm level. His team leads potato research at Farming Smarter, using their research expertise to help growers optimize their practices for potato production.

“Our goal for the first year was to have a manageable program to let us focus on learning everything we could about working with potatoes. For us to research potatoes, we needed to purchase new equipment – all of it specialized,” Baarda states.

The Field Tested team developed small plot research trials that allowed them to learn the new equipment and the crop.

“Our focus afforded us the ability to learn from the industry, speak with growers, and discover how we can best support their needs,” says Baarda.

As they better understood the needs of potato growers and the industry at large, Baarda’s team better aligned their answers with the questions most relevant to the growers.

Your favourite potato products like fries, tater tots, and chips all require a different range of specific size, weight, and quality to fit the production lines in processing plants. Growers are paid relative to how much of their yield processors can use; a potato too big or too small yields no cash.

Lewis Baarda sends a batch of potatoes through Farming Smarter's SmartGrader. This equipment was purchased to enhance Farming Smarter's capacity for potato agronomy research. Each potato is recorded, its size, weight, quality, and much more is compiled for data analysis.

Investing in the tools of the trade

Baarda’s team committed to learning each requirement for the various processors. Among the new equipment purchased for potato research, Farming Smarter acquired a SmartGrader for tuber size profile evaluation.

The SmartGrader analyzes entire batches of potatoes, recording the height, weight, length, and density information of each spud as it passes through the reader. It then compiles this information into a spreadsheet that technicians use in data analysis.

“With the Smart Grader, we can adjust for specific measurements to provide us with marketable yields the farmers would care about across the industry,” Baarda explains.

Furthermore, the agronomy research trials included projects to evaluate the performance of various products on different potato cultivars. A variety of application depths, rates, and processes like banding and broadcasting were all tested for their influence on the quality of the cultivars and yields.

This allowed the team to better understand how this work could positively impact the industry. And to their credit, it worked.

“As we grew our expertise with our equipment and within the industry, the major players noticed. Towards the end of last year, industry began to approach us to take on new contracts for research this year,” he remarks.

Farming Smarter teams harvest rows of potato agronomy research trials in southern Alberta.  Credit: Farming Smarter

Many of the Field Tested team’s potato projects come from contracts and partnerships with potato processors in southern Alberta.

Expanding the horizon for the future

Farming Smarter is in a unique position to support agronomy research in a burgeoning sector of the industry. While still new to the potato game, the team is one of few with the tools and expertise necessary to complete these research trials.

Or, in Baarda’s words: “If you want an answer to a question, and you want to know how confident you’ll be in that answer, work with us. We have the tools, we’re set up, and we know research.” 

As the mind behind many of the new projects expanding regional knowledge for potato growers and industry partners, Baarda is excited to see how this program develops.

Alongside his “shots in the dark” growing potatoes with reduced tillage, Baarda’s Field Tested team looks to expand its potato trials to dig up the answers on practices and products across multiple varieties.

Farming Smarter continues to bolster its capacity for potato agronomy for the 2026 growing season. New project applications are underway to expand the agronomic research that supports growers throughout southern Alberta, along with the announcement of a new team member to lead potato agronomy efforts alongside Baarda.

To learn more about Farming Smarter's potato research or to be part of an agronomy research trial, connect with Lewis Baarda today!