How do we preserve the individual farm legacy while preparing the farm for future generations? It was this question that brought 10 potato farmers together in the late ’70s and early ’80s to attempt to operate a fresh-pack potato shed together.

It turns out that the diners' question “Do you want fries or chips?” starts not in the kitchen, but with the breeder.

Doug Gross specializes in all things potatoes on his Wilder farm. “We learned early that there were some things I wasn’t good at and shouldn’t be growing,” he says. Rather than doubling down on those weaknesses, he focused on his strengths.

Potato varieties are developed constantly to help farmers raise quality raw products economically, but the process still takes about a decade.