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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 4, 2022
Takasugi Seed Farms: Growing many crops
By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
Takasugi Seed Farm
The onion crop at the Takasugu Seed Farm.
Takasugi Seed Farm
A fi eld at Takasugi Seed Farm.
At one
time
the
farm grew
alfalfa seed
on
1,000
acres.
Alfalfa
currently
Leo
averages
Sandoval
about 300
acres. The farm has 150
acres of peas, about 100
to 150 acres of beans, and
the same amount of onions.
The corn is just a 5-acre
From PJ, Great Northern, Iron Panther,
M.H. EBY, Banens, Others
plot of sweet corn for
crossbreeding.
All the crops are rotated
with alfalfa.
“Normally we keep a
stand of alfalfa about three
years. It depends on the
company we’ve contracted
with and how long they
want it,” he said. “Cur-
rently, most of the compa-
nies are doing three-year
contracts, but depending on
their inventory, if they need
that variety they extend it
another year.”
The company specifi es
the variety they want. The
farm is currently contract-
ing with Forage Genetics
and Corteva.
The farm has had many
diff erent challenges over
time. Weather and markets
are always changing, and
costs go up — like the price
of fertilizer recently. This
past year was dry, which
made farming more diffi -
cult, even with irrigation.
“We did OK, but it was
defi nitely a lot more work
than ever before, to keep
everything wet enough,”
Sandoval said. “There was
not much rain, and the wind
kept drying everything
out.”
The farm uses siphon
tubes to irrigate crops,
because the moisture lasts
longer than with pivots.
It was almost impossible
to keep up this year, using
any type of sprinkler,” he
said. “There was a lot of
evaporation loss.”
On the plus side, the
farm has good employees,
he said.
“There’s me and six other
guys. Some are my rela-
tives,” Sandoval said. “After
Pat passed away, many peo-
ple were surprised that
Suzanne wanted to keep
it going, but she did. She
knows the business side, and
keeping the books.
“The employees were
already managing the farm-
ing side, so we were able to
keep it going,” he said.
This is excellent farm
ground, actually two farms
about 5 miles apart. Each
farm has more than 500
acres.
“We don’t take equip-
ment back and forth; each
farm is set up with its own
equipment. It’s two opera-
tions,” Sandoval said.
“We hope to continue at
least another couple years
and then see how it goes,”
he said. “I am getting close
to retirement, but I don’t
know whether I want to
retire!”
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S273978-1
WILDER, Idaho —
Takasugi Seed Farms con-
tinues to operate years after
the death of its owner, Pat
Takasugi, the well-liked
owner and long-time head
of the state Department of
Agriculture.
Pat Takasugi grew up in
Wilder, Idaho, on the farm
his father, Mitch, started. He
earned a degree in political
science from the College of
Idaho in 1971, and enlisted
in the U.S. Army. He was in
the Special Forces.
He returned to the family
farm in 1976, and later was
director of the Idaho State
Department of Agriculture,
from 1996 to 2006. He was
elected to the state House of
Representatives in 2008.
After his passing in
2011 at age 62, Pat’s wife,
Suzanne, took over his role
on the farm, and Snake
River Produce Co. She con-
tinues to manage the farms
in Wilder and Homedale,
Idaho, with the help of farm
manager Leo Sandoval,
who has managed the farms
for 40 years.
“We grow wheat, onions,
alfalfa seed, beans, peas
and a little corn,” Sando-
val said. “The beans, peas
and corn are for seed. The
only crops we grow that are
not for seed are onions and
wheat.”