Will Kornegay knows a lot about sweet potatoes. His family has grown them for years. And when I met him, he was repoing sweet potatoes hard online. Eventually I interviewed him to clear up some confusion and I thought it would be good to share the info here too!

Will Kornegay

Back when I chatted with Will, he worked for Ham Farms. He has since moved on to start and be CEO of Ripe Revival, a company that is helping to solve the problems of food waste and hunger. And because he lives in a part of North Carolina where sweet potatoes are grown, he still catches up with lots of sweet potato farmers.

Now I LOVE sweet potatoes. Seriously, have you had sweet potato tots? And you can never go wrong with some sweet potato fries. I also think a baked sweet potato is something to get all excited about. And I remember with a big smile the day each year when a truck would deliver sweet potatoes to our office from a customer in Louisiana. So I had to find a way to sit down and chat with Will.

My Q&A with Will

Why do people get sweet potatoes & yams confused? What are the differences & the similarities?

What is marketed in the United States as “yams” are really a variety of sweet potato, grown in the South. A true yam is a starchy edible root of the Dioscorea genus, and is generally imported to America from the Caribbean. It is rough and scaly and very low in beta carotene.

Yams? Sweet Potatoes? Can you tell?

“Yams,” as the industry and general public perceives them, are actually sweet potatoes with a vivid orange color and a soft moist consistency when cooked. They tend to have a sweeter flavor. Other varieties of sweet potatoes are lighter skinned and have a firmer, drier texture when cooked. Sweet potatoes are smooth with skins that can vary in color, depending on the variety, from pale yellow to deep purple to vivid orange. Flesh colors can range from light yellow to pink, red, purple or orange.

So where did all of the confusion come from? Many years ago when orange flesh sweet potatoes were introduced into the southern United States, producers and shippers desired to distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types.  Many newcomers to America saw the sweet potatoes and referred to them as yams due to the similarities that were seen from between the sweet potatoes and their native “yam”.  The African word “nyami” referring to the starchy, edible root of the Dioscorea genus of plants was adopted in its English form, “yam”.

Yams in the United States are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the US Department of Agriculture requires that the label “yam” always be accompanied by “sweet potato.”

If you want to see if you can get this down right, you can take the sweet potato or yam quiz!

Are they grown in similar geographies?

Sweet potatoes and yams are grown in different geographies.  Yams grow in tropical climates, primarily in South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.  Sweet potatoes can be grown where there is a long frost-free period with warm temperatures in the growing season. Most cultivars require a minimum frost-free period of 100-125 days, with a minimum average daily temperature of 77 degrees. Sweet potatoes also require almost an inch of water per week uniformly distributed throughout the growing season for highest yields.  These conditions are primarily found in the southern US.

Since the crop is grown in several southern states, what makes those areas similar? What kind of soils are best, the type of season that is best, etc.?

Farming Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are grown primarily in the southern US because the conditions of the climate and the lands geographical makeup are somewhat similar.  Sweet potatoes are grown in sandy, loamy soils, and the season is dependent on the climate conditions mentioned above.  In each of these regions, there is one growing season each year.  Sweet potatoes are a storage crop, which means that they are grown, harvested, and stored throughout the year.  March – October is the average growing cycle for a crop of sweet potatoes from start to finish.  They are then stored to be packed for production until the next crop is harvested.

Here’s how they do it at Ham Farms:

“Each year, our qualified staff soil sample every field during the winter months. This will allow us to make proper fertilization decisions for the upcoming crop.

As a NC Certified Seed Producer, Ham Farms cultivates micropropgated, elite plants in our greenhouses. These plants are transplanted into our fields and roots harvested will become seed stock for the following year’s crop. Using certified seed will ensure a healthy, disease-free crop that is more uniform.

In early March, our seed stock will be bedded in the field. These beds will produce our sprouts or slips for transplanting in May. Precision transplanters are used for planting, to ensure slips are spaced uniformly in rows. Transplanting will usually conclude before the end of June.

Our staff will work diligently after transplant to ensure that fields are cultivated regularly in order to control the emergence of weeds. Sampling of fields and harvest planning will begin in July, as roots will have grown to a marketable size within 90 to 120 days.

During harvest, field rows are turned up using a modified disk which uncovers the sweet potatoes. Roots are hand harvested and graded in the fields. The roots are then transferred into bulk containers and transported to one of our controlled atmosphere storage facilities for curing.

The curing process takes between 4 to 7 days. Curing heals cuts and reduces decay and shrinkage in storage because it allows the periderm to thicken and to reform. Curing also converts some starches to sugars, enhancing the sweet potatoes’ natural flavor.”

What do you rotate sweet potatoes with?

We rotate our sweet potatoes with several crops, mainly soybeans, wheat, cotton, cabbage, peppers, and other the vegetable crops that we grow.

Do most farmers plant different crops?

Farmers choose to plant the crops they plant for many different reasons.  Most farmers plant multiple crops.  Crop rotation is a major motivating factor.  Many farmers will choose to specialize in growing a crop or a few specific crops, and will use other crops to aid in their crop rotation.

For most crops you can see the crop mature, that doesn’t seem as easy with tubers, how do you know sweet potatoes are ready to be harvested?

How do you know when sweet potatoes are ready for harvest? You sample them!

This is done by field testing.  Provided that growing conditions and climate have cooperated; sweet potatoes are mature between 90-120 days.  Once the crop hits 90 days, our farm managers will turn up hills as a sample to see what the condition of the crop is.  Random sampling will give a good idea of each field’s makeup, size profile, and readiness for harvesting.  Once they crop appears to be ready the harvest plan is put into action.  Ham Farms grows over 8,000 acres of sweet potatoes.  Strategy and planning play a very large role in the planting/harvesting process.

What’s your favorite way to have sweet potatoes? Any recipe or cooking tips you want to offer?

Personally, I like sweet potatoes cut up and grilled as fries.    You can also check out a bunch of recipes on the North Carolina Sweet Potatoes website.

For More on Sweet Potatoes and Yams

Farmers like Will have been so helpful in getting grounded on things! I’ve got even more on sweet potatoes from another friend of mine, Todd O’Neal, who told me all about his sweet potato farm in Louisiana on the podcast! We chatted as a part of my holiday foods series back in 2020, but I love sweet potatoes so much that I don’t just consign them to the holidays. They’re great year round!

The post Sweet Potatoes? Yams? What’s the Difference Anyway? appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Todd O’Neal is a sweet potato farmer in Louisiana and his enthusiasm for the crop is electric. He talks to us about how sweet potatoes were considered something for poor people, as small farmers always had a patch to feed their family. But recently, the crop has been better understood as flavorful, nutritious and versatile. Todd talks to us for our holiday foods series about the ins and outs of growing them as well as give us his tip on the best way to enjoy sweet potatoes.

Todd is with Black Gold Farms, you can connect with them on online:

• On the Web: https://blackgoldfarms.com/
• Like Them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackGoldFarms/
• Connect with Them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/black-gold-farms/

Watch Todd talk growing sweet potatoes this season with the team at This Week in Louisiana Agriculture.

Sweet Potatoes are now grown & enjoyed 12 months out of the year! It’s no longer just a holiday thing!

Did you know that the “regular potatoes” you think of are often called “white potatoes” or “Irish Potatoes?”

The Curing Process in Sweet potatoes: Regular/white/Irish potatoes are brought inside to an environment to cool. Sweet potatoes on the other hand are heated up to help break down the sugars inside the sweet potato which makes it “sweet”.

The biggest time of the year for sweet potato farmers? Thanksgiving! Holidays are big in general. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are all big times for sweet potatoes. But they have been gaining ground and are now enjoyed year round!

Why are sweet potatoes so popular? At one time every farmer grew sweet potatoes but there was a steady decline as farming numbers dwindled. At one time, sweet potatoes were somehow aligned with people “being poor” and so they fell off the general chart of attention span. In just the last decade, sweet potatoes have gained attention momentum, being associated with a general focus on health, being offered as solutions to many people with a variety of dietary needs including those who are diabetic and take take on the starches that are provided in the Regular/White/Irish Potato.They are high in Vitamin A & Beta Carotene.

It’s in the bag, man: When COVID-19 began gripping the US, there was a swell in sales of sweet potatoes (and all general foods that could be purchased/acquired at grocery stores). Todd also noticed something strange in a photo of a grocery store’s produce area – the only things left were “loose apples” which helped to craft a new plan to help the sale of sweet potatoes. It was clear that people were grabbing things in a BAG, because people were paying attention to how many surfaces were touched by how many people.

There’s only ONE kind of sweet potato, right? There are many varieties of sweet potatoes – The Bayou Belle: It’s not the prettiest potato but makes for great sweet potato fries! The Orleans sweet potato is the pretty one for fresh market handsome go to processors and there is a lesser known type – The Beauregard – all of which were developed and named – clearly – from their development at Louisiana State’s Sweet Potato Research Station.

The Count Matters – Which state tops sweet potato production? Wondering who is on top of the “sweet potatoes heap? North Carolina currently grows the most. Mississippi is in the second slot. California comes in third, and Louisiana takes the number 4 slot.

Lookin’ Mighty Fine (For a sweet potato…): Todd is SURE, (not because he lives and has a sweet potato farm there or anything) that Louisiana Potatoes LOOK the best of all available sweet potatoes.

What makes these so great? Silt loam soils!

Silt is a solid, dust-like sediment that water, ice, and wind transport and deposit. Silt is made up of rock and mineral particles that are larger than clay but smaller ..

Loam is a special type of soil that has been formulated to contain a mixture of sand, silt and clay. Sandy loam soil is a very desirable medium that is used by farmers, gardeners, landscapers and property owners because of its very beneficial qualities.

You can learn more about the passion for soil in this conversation with Mr. Ray Young that’s mentioned.

Did You Know: A sweet potato will cure in 4-5 days in general, but depends a bit on time of year, temperature and humidity.

Some Like It Hot – But Not Wet: 85% humidity and nice cool temperatures (55 degrees or so) is best to put sweet potatoes “to sleep” to help prevent CO2 levels form climbing too high that would cause the sweet potatoes to rot. They also like dry environments like Shay told us onions do…

Smart Buildings Help Feed People? Huh? Sweet potato farmers often use buildings that detect how much CO2 is building up to help prevent unfavorable conditions!

The Root of the Matter: A sweet potato is a root. It’s part of the morning glory family – it’s a WEED! It has the same type of flowers you may have seen in a vining garden.

SORRY! You’re Going to Have to Listen to This Episode to Find Out… The process of growing and cultivating sweet potatoes is incredibly detailed! Be sure to listen to this episode of Grounded By The Farm to understand all of it! Thanks, Todd!

Big Machines – Beautiful sweet potatoes – ACTION! Interested in seeing ALL of the sweet potato farming machines in action? “Dig It!”

https://youtu.be/EGFo3bZj_SM

Planting sweet potatoes takes 40-50 days! Harvesting is probably 75 days of the year!

Ready to learn more about “H2A Workers”? Be sure to check out The Grounded By the Farm episode on growing peppers for more details!

Counting Workers to Help Make It COUNT! Did you know that the Black Gold Farm location that Todd supervises, has almost 300 employees? Feeding people requires hard work and they truly enjoy their effort knowing that it will put food on the plates of many people!

You Say “Yam” But They Say “Sweet Potato” — What’s the Story? Are Yams and sweet potatoes the SAME THING? As much as we want you to read and then know the answer, you’re going to have to listen to this episode of Grounded By The Farm with Todd O’Neal from Black Gold sweet potato farm to find out! Suffice it to say, Louisiana is marketing smart!

Finding sweet potatoes near you! The market for sweet potatoes has grown sometimes due to food services and restaurants.

• Do you know what a QSR is? It’s an acronym that in this case stands for Quick Serve Restaurant!
• Do you know what an LTO is? It’s an acronym that in this case stands for Limited Time Offer!
• What does YOUR favorite “QSR” offer as an “LTO?” Tell us PDQ, or you’ll be SOL, and end up doing KP and if you’re in the we’ll surely all end up DOA!

Curious about ONIONS? Be sure to check out the episode of Grounded By The Farm featuring onion farmer that’s so good it’ll make you CRY! https://groundedbythefarm.com/growing-onions/

Black Gold offers value added & bulk sweet potatoes! There are so many innovations that go beyond individual sweet potatoes or bags, doing poly-wrapped and more. Fresh at the grocery really went up when more people stayed at home, but the company also offers them in bulk of 40 pounds at their Delhi, Louisiana location.

How does a sweet potato farmer prefer to eat a sweet potato? First it gets peeled. Then you warm up a seasoned cast iron skillet. Slice the sweet potato length-wise. Toss in half a stick of butter and brown it up on both sides – sprinkle a little salt on it and you’re there! He’s had sweet potato biscuits, sweet potato cakes and more! What’s YOUR favorite kind of sweet potato preparation? Contact us via The Grounded By The Farm’s social media and tell us what yours is!

The Struggle is REAL: Sweet potatoes WITH or WITHOUT – PECANS? That’s a controversy

Storing them at home — keep them in a cool, dark place. Heat is the enemy that causes it to put sprouts on and it changes the texture inside.

Stick It – In The Window! Even Todd grows sweet potatoes in his window sill! Have you tried to be a sweet potato farmer? He gives the instructions on how to do it inside this episode! Listen, Learn, Grow and EAT!

We Need to Hear from You! 

What did YOU find interesting about this episode of Grounded by The Farm? What would you like us to be sure we include in the second season of the podcast? Tell Janice what you thought about it now and we just may use your feedback on a future episode

The team at EditorCorps.com helped with show notes and editing of this episode.

The post Sweet Potato Farmer Todd O’Neal Is Feeling the Love as Sweet Potatoes Grow in Favor appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.