Published: August 31, 2008 12:59 am      

10-year-old state farmer pushing blue potato

CHARLESTON — Alex Hanna says it’s not always easy to persuade customers that his Adirondack blue and red potatoes make tasty mash potatoes.

But once the Greenbrier County fifth-grader explains that the white potato’s cousins have extra antioxidants to help fight cancer and heart disease, most curious shoppers at the farmers market will fork over $1.50 a pound to give them a try.

The 10-year-old is one of hundreds of farmers across the country receiving financial help from the federal government to expand markets for specialty crops.

During fiscal year 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture earmarked $8.4 million to promote niche farming that includes everything from algae to ginseng and maple syrup to seaweed.

West Virginia distributed $98,736 to 35 agriculture-related projects this year. Virginia distributed $111,797 to nine.

Last year, the Texas Department of Agriculture spent about $156,000 on advertising, chef demonstrations and recipe distributions to promote farmers markets and locally-grown produce, according to coordinator Richard De Los Santos’ final report to the USDA. As a result of the promotions, pick-your-own farms reported a 10 percent uptick in sales, and farmers’ markets had a 42 percent increase.

In Oklahoma, 14 markets that benefited from billboard advertisements saw sales increase an average of 23 percent while the number of vendors increased 37 percent, according to program coordinator Justin Whitmore.

Sales of Iowa honey grew 31 percent after the Iowa Honey Producers Association increased its visibility at the Iowa State Fair. Promotions helped boost sales at the Cedar Falls Main Street Farmers Market by 34 percent and the number of vendors by 50 percent.

With the $750 grant Alex received, he purchased seed, fertilizer, fuel, scales and a canopy to shade his produce when he operates a stand at several farmers’ markets in southeastern West Virginia.

Other West Virginia beneficiaries include a nearby farm that is exploring the feasibility of using high tunnels to grow strawberries, another that is developing a water recirculation project to eliminate lettuce wilt and a greenhouse in the Eastern Panhandle that is looking into using geothermal energy for greenhouse gardening.

The Great Kanawha Resource Conservation & Development Council, in partnership with West Virginia State University Extension Service, plans to help backyard gardeners and large-scale farmers raise daisies, lavender and other tabletop favorites for the cut flower industry.

Virginia’s projects include a program to train a new generation of berry growers in Studley, upgrading an existing irrigation system in Westmoreland County so it uses less water and energy, and installing cooling equipment at a farmers market in Hillsville to enhance the freshness and shelf life of its produce, said Elaine Lidholm, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Alex said he first heard about blue potatoes from a neighbor who used to live in Alaska, and “thought to would be real neat” to try to grow them on his family’s 250-acre beef farm.

His maiden crop did fairly well this year, he said. “Hardly anything ate on them, but I had to pull a lot of weeds. It seemed like every time you pulled a weed and turned around, they were right back up.”

As for what to try next year, Alex says he’s still trying to decide.

Whatever it is, though, he says it won’t be your ordinary garden variety.