Young Farmer of the Year goes to Blaine’s Garrison

    GREGG GARRISON of Blaine was honored March 19 as the Maine Potato Board’s 2009 Young Farmer of the Year. Garrison and his father, Wayne, own and operate Double G Farms where they grow 600 acres of processing potatoes and 600 acres of rotational crops in fields scattered from Bridgewater to Fort Fairfield. Congratulating Garrison on his award are members of his family, front row, from left: daughters Olivia and Sydney, parents Jackie and Wayne, and son Chandler. Back row: sisters Tracey Wright and Andrea Hammond, Garrison, wife Heidi, and son Spencer.

    PRESQUE ISLE – For Gregg Garrison of Blaine, the true reward of potato farming is being able to work as a family unit with his father, Wayne, his wife, Heidi, and his four children, Olivia, Spencer, Chandler and Sydney. Being named the 2009 Maine Potato Board’s Young Farmer of the Year is just gravy.
    “I love planting a seed in the spring, seeing it through, and then reaping the results in the fall,” said Garrison. “And, I would love it if my children would have a future in agriculture.”
    Garrison, who with his father owns and operates Double G Farms where they grow 600 acres of processing potatoes and 600 acres of rotational crops in fields scattered from Bridgewater to Fort Fairfield, was presented his Young Farmer of the Year award at the Maine Potato Board’s annual meeting and dinner March 19.
    “I would like to thank the Maine Potato Board for selecting me for this award. The mere fact that it comes from my peers makes this extra special to me,” Garrison said. “I have truly enjoyed these past few months being called ‘young.’ When Tim Hobbs [director of development and grower relations for the Maine Potato Board] told me I had been selected, I said, ‘Do you know how old I am?’ Thirty-nine four times over.”
    Garrison took the occasion to thank his “partner on the farm and my mentor in life,” his father, Wayne.
    “I grew up on a true family farm. My sisters and I worked with my Mom and Dad whether it was riding a planter after school, cutting seed by hand, picking rocks, working the harvest or shipping out the crop; it was done by the family. Back then, I truly was a young farmer. From about third grade on, I usually caught spring fever and stayed home from school and got the ground ready so that Mom and Dad could plant.
    “There were quite a few lean years through this time,” he said, “but through my parents’ hard work and determination, they kept the farm going. In 1988, after graduating from college, I bought my grandfather’s (Russell Townsend) farm and started farming with my Mom and Dad. I’m thankful that family farming is still alive, especially here in Maine.”
    Garrison also thanked his wife, Heidi (McCrum), a farmer’s daughter “who swore she would never marry a farmer.”
    “Never say never,” he laughed. “It’s funny, my mother had said the same thing and she held to it. She married a banker, but after Dad got the girl, he quit banking and pursued his true passion in life.”
    As the Young Farmer of the Year, Garrison was invited to attend the Potato Industry Leadership Institute. He and 19 other growers and industry representatives from across the United States participated in training designed to identify, develop and cultivate new leaders within the potato industry. From Feb. 18-25, participants sharpened their skills in the areas of leadership development, public policy, marketing, trade, team building, public communication, presentation skills and more.
    The first half of the 2010 Institute was hosted by the Michigan Potato Industry Commission. While in Michigan, the participants received an overview of the state’s potato production and unique growing practices. They also had the opportunity to visit with Sklarczyk Seed Farm, the first to use tissue culture in the seed potato industry and the first to use hydroponics. They also visited with representatives from the Northwestern Michigan College’s Water Studies Institute where a discussion was held on the diverse water issues within the Great Lakes Basin. The tour continued with a visit to Walther Farms, a third-generation family owned business headquartered in southwest Michigan. The final stop was at Fresh Solution Farms LLC, a marketer, grower, packer and shipper of potatoes, operating a state-of-the-art facility in White Pigeon, Mich.
    The second half of the training was in Washington, D.C. where the focus moved to legislative and regulatory priorities for the U.S. potato industry, as well as skills training. Training sessions included presentation skills, team building, media training and lobbying skills. The program culminated with visits to Capitol Hill where participants put their lobbying training to work.
    “It was a great opportunity to meet with growers from other areas in the United States and to visit with Michigan farmers and tour packaging facilities,” said Garrison. “I developed a better understanding of the U.S. potato industry as a whole, and some of the training sessions took me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to be more involved in our local potato industry.”
    Garrison said he’s amazed at the changes that have occurred in the potato industry in such a short time.
    “Now we have riderless planters, computer controlled potato storages, GPS controlled steering on tractors, the Internet, tiny cell phones and harvesting 20 rows at a time,” he said. “I never would have dreamed that in 1988.
    “When I flash forward in my mind 20 years from today, I cannot even imagine how farming will be done. But no matter what the future holds, I look forward to facing and experiencing these changes with my own children and teaching them the same values and principles that my Dad and Mom taught me such as, ‘Do everything in your control to the best of your knowledge and ability, and let God take care of the rest,’” said Garrison. “In closing, I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you to all who have helped me in my farming career.”
    Garrison serves on the Maine Potato Board’s Processing Growers Executive Council and the PMIF Project Review Committee. He achieved his American Farmer Degree as a member of the National Future Farmers of America. Garrison also has made McCain Foods’ Top 10 Grower List four times in the past decade.