Family Barnes

Farmpak

Hi, we are Bethany, Joshua, John and Jacy Barnes from Farm Pak and we grow organic potatoes for Nature & More. Thank you for buying our products!

Here in North Carolina (USA) we grow both organic and non organic sweet potatoes. When we started in 1960 we were growing sweet potatoes on less than an acre. Today our we grow these delicious products on more than 5000 acres. Apart from sweet potatoes we also grow persimmons, soy beans and wheat. At our modern packing facilities in Spring Hope (North Carolina) we clean, sort and pack our products. This facility is one of the most modern and efficient in the USA.

The Organic Certification from CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers), covers 1000 acres of sweet potatoes. The certification is based on application review, field history to verify that no chemical substances have been applied on the soil for at least 3 consecutive years, chemical residues soil test are caried to assure chemical free land. Exclusive storage facilities to prevent any crossover contamination from conventional product, Food Safety guide lines in place and recorded.

Barnes Farming is an environmentally-friendly operation. We have introduced special forestryand wildlife programs and at any time of the year, turkeys, rabbits, ducks, birds and other wildlife flourish throughout our farming and forestry operations.

In Europe the Sweet Potato is not as common as in the U.S., can you tell us a little more about this interesting product ?
John: Well I guess the most important point to make is that sweet potatoes are not actually potatoes. In fact, they aren't even distant cousins. Potatoes are tubers from the solanaceae family. Their genus is solanum. Sweetpotatoes are part of the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae). Their genus is ipomoea batatas. Sweet potatoes can be stored year round but here in North Carolina our main harvest runs between August and November.

How many varieties of sweet potatoes are there ?
John: There are hundreds of different varieties. The most popular ones grown here in North Carolina include the Covington, Beauregard, Hernandez, Jewel, Puerto Rico, Japanese, O'Henry and White Delight.

Can you tell us something about the origin ?
John: Sweet Potatoes are as American as apple pie, and even more so. Native Americans were already growing Sweet Potatoes when Columbus came to these shores in 1492. Sweet Potatoes have been growing in the South for as early as 1648.

When was Farm Pak Products established?
John: Farm Pak Products, Inc. was formed in 1969 as a sales and brokering firm for Barnes Farming. Since that time, Farm Pak had grown into one of the largest marketers of sweet potatoes and produce.

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soil

Sweet potatoes do best on light, deep, friable loams (sandy loam) with high fertility. Barnyard manures and composts have a history of use in sweetpotato production. The soils in this part of North Carolina are ideal for sweet potatoe production. To avoid rot good soil drainage and avoiding soil compaction are key. That is why these products are usually planted on preformed ridges. Farmpak uses composted manure to fertilize the soil. Crop rotation is also an important tool in maintaining soil fertility: sweet potatoes, wheat, soybeans and peanuts are planted in the same spot in subsequent years. The soy beans and peanuts, apart from being an edible crop, also bring nitrogen into the ground, serving as "green manure".

biodiversity

Barnes Farming is an environmentally-friendly operation. We have introduced special forestryand wildlife programs and at any time of the year, turkeys, rabbits, ducks, birds and other wildlife flourish throughout our farming and forestry operations. Around the irrigation ponds, habitats are reconstructed for ducks. Ducks are not very common in the USA anymore, because they have lost most of their habitat.

Healthy plants mean healthy products but it does not stop there. At Farm Pak Products, we recognize the importance of a first-rate food safety program that encompasses both food safety and sanitation practices. It starts with keeping records of each field, growing, harvesting, curing, packing and shipping our sweet potatoes. Concerning biodiversity, special forestry and wildlife programs were set up. Around the irrigation ponds, habitats are reconstructed for ducks by planting trees and allowing natural grasses to grow.

society

As an agriculture business, we carefully adhere to numerous laws and regulations set down by the federal government to ensure the protection of workers. In some cases, we choose to place an even higher standard within our own company. The major areas protected by these standards are pesticides, child labor, sanitation, and labor laws. The Barnes family supports a lot of local projects.

Equality and respect for human rights are self-evident in Farmpak: the employees come from all backrounds and colours. There are native Americans, Latin-Americans, afro-Americans among the staff, and there's an even distribution among men and women.

Solidarity is about acknowledging others people needs. Providing a decent income, safety and proper housing to employees are some aspects of this; apart from that, the Barnes family also supports many projects to improve the local community.

climate

Compared to greenhouse products like tomatoes and cucumbers, we do not use all that much energy for our sweet potatoes. Of course we do use energy for sorting, cleaning, storing, packing and shipping our products but are aim is always to do this as efficiently as possible. Farmpak is at the moment planning to install a biodigester, which will produces electricity, with biogass from waste material. In this way less fossil fuel needs to be used, and the carbon footprint can be diminished.

Numerous international studies have shown that organic arable agriculture binds four times as much CO2 in the soil compared to it’s non organic counterpart. Recent studies in The Netherlands confirm the results from a 23 year long field research conducted by the U.S. Rodale Institute concluding that organic arable farming binds far more CO2 than conventional arable farming. Farmpak is at the moment planning to install a biodigester, which will produces electricity, with biogass from waste material. In this way less fossil fuel needs to be used, and the carbon footprint diminished.

water

When it comes to water, Farmpak relies on mother nature! Furthermore, by not using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides the run-off water remains as clean as when it falls from the sky. The rain water is collected in ponds; from the ponds it's used for irrigation. Farmpak uses spray irrigation; the company won a grant to replace the waterguns by center pivots, which gives better control and saves water. In this way Farmpak does not have to draw water from rivers.

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