Milt Carter is The Packer’s Potato Man for All Seasons
Milt Carter is The Packer’s 2021 Potato Man for All Seasons.
Carter, chairman of CSS Farms, Watertown, S.D., was informed of the award in a March 8 video call with The Packer’s editor Tom Karst. Karst praised Carter for his leadership, passion and innovation in the potato industry.
With partner Randy Spevak, Carter began CSS Farms in 1986, and produced the company’s first crop of russet potatoes for a nearby french fry plant. CSS Farms soon expanded into chip potato production with farms in Nebraska and Texas. CSS Farms now has a footprint that includes 350 full-time employees in 19 farm operations in 11 states. At the end of 2018, Carter stepped down as CEO of the company but remains its chairman. CSS Farms partners today include Bob Bender, Nathan Bender, Steve Gangwish, Reagan Grabner, and Spevak.
Innovative leader
Russell Wysocki, CEO of Wysocki Family of Cos./RPE Inc., Bancroft, Wis., said in a nominating letter that Carter has led CSS Farms to be one of the most progressive and proactive potato producers in the industry.
Besides his big role in chip and seed potatoes, Carter clearly recognized trends in fresh market potatoes, Wysocki said.
“We were fortunate to join in a partnership with CSS Farms in 2010 to support a vision that Milt had after joining the U.S. Potato Board’s trip abroad to Europe in 1997,” Wysocki said.
“That trip was the impetus for what has become Tasteful Selections, the largest grower, packer and marketer of bite-size potatoes.”
In 2010, CSS Farms partnered with RPE and Plover River Farms to form Tasteful Selections, one of the country’s top producers of baby and fingerling potatoes.
Wysocki said the bite-size potato market at that time was less than 1.5% of the U.S. market and within 10 years it has grown to more than 18%.
“What makes this even more amazing is the fact that Milt was a pure process grower and was very adverse to the fresh market due to its challenges with lower consumption and limited profit potential,” Wysocki said. “However, he still was able to see the demand for high-quality, easy-to-use and convenient fresh potatoes that others within the industry overlooked. This vision has propelled the entire industry forward, inspiring consumer demand and bringing life into an otherwise declining market.”
Carter’s contribution to the industry includes leadership in helping to combat the Zebra chip disease, with allies praising his development of best agronomic management practices for psyllid and Zebra chip control.
Carter also has served on multiple industry boards and committees, including numerous years as a director of the National Potato Council.
Calling Carter a great friend and colleague, Neil Gudmestad, a retired professor of plant pathology at North Dakota State University, said the honor for Carter was long overdue.
He praised Carter’s persistent quest to get answers and become a better grower, which has been true since his early days in the industry.
“I remember when he was a nobody and he was at the Red River Valley potato growers annual meeting in Fargo, N.D., and I had given a presentation,” he recalled. “It was a break and Milt just asked me 100 questions, so that I couldn’t even go get a cup of coffee.”
Nobody knew who Carter was then, but everyone knows him today, Gudmestad said.
Carter expressed gratitude for the honor and the people he works with. “I’m speechless. I truly appreciate the honor,” he said. Reflecting on his career, he said it really hasn’t been work. “I have kind of moved toward retirement, but this is my life and this is what I enjoy doing.”
The Packer will host a video call to allow potato industry friends to congratulate Carter for the recognition, with details to be released soon.
