Capital Press
January 30, 2015
The West’s
A g
CapitalPress.com
Weekly
A YEAR OF IDAHO
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Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Farmer Randy Hardy stands in his shop in Oakley, Idaho. As president of the National Potato Council, Hardy has been involved in grower issues on the national level for
the past 20 years.
Potato grower champions
industry interests
Randy Hardy takes national stage on behalf of fellow growers
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
O
AKLEY, Idaho —
Running the family
farm since the age of
19 after the unexpect-
ed death of his father,
Randy Hardy is no stranger to chal-
lenge.
He’s been farming for 42 years,
growing the family farm in Oak-
ley, Idaho, from 300 acres to near-
ly 3,000 acres. And for the last 20
years, he’s championed the cause of
potato growers at the national level,
serving at the helm of grower orga-
nizations to promote potatoes and
protect the industry’s interests.
After high school, Hardy went
to college, but decided to marry his
high school sweetheart and returned
Western Innovator
Randy Hardy
Hometown: Oakley, Idaho
Age: 61
Partners: Wife, Karlene, and son, Ben
Children: 5
Grandchildren: 27
Acres: 2,800
Main crop: Potatoes
Offi ces: President, National Potato Council; former chairman, U.S. Potato Board;
chairman, Sun Valley Potatoes fresh potato co-op; board member, IdaGro dehydrated
potato supply co-op
Whiteley, and neighboring farmers,
he said.
It wasn’t easy, and he made a lot
of mistakes the fi rst 10 years. But it
made him better. He had to learn,
and learn in a hurry, he said.
Three hundred acres was big back
then, and the whole valley was fl ood
irrigated, demanding long hours and
a lot of labor. But he held steady to
the task and along the way, picked
up more ground.
He also became involved in na-
tional potato grower organizations,
following in the footsteps of his
uncle, who was partially responsi-
ble for getting the National Potato
Council established and served as its
chairman in 1955.
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a year later to farm with his father.
But those plans changed overnight,
when his father died two months af-
ter Hardy’s return to the farm.
Taking over the family farm in-
volved a huge learning curve, he said.
“I knew a lot of the farming, but
I didn’t have a clue about fi nances
and seed and fertilizer,” he said.
But he set about providing for his
mother and new wife, asking ques-
tions of his uncle and mentor, W.B.
Turn to HARDY, Page 3
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