It might be a little cliché to say so, but it’s true — every day is Earth Day at R.D. Offutt Farms. With more than 60 years of experience growing potatoes, we make decisions based on long‑term stewardship — so we can continue producing high‑quality food while responsibly caring for the resources we depend on. From soil health to water conservation, our approach is rooted in continuous improvement and science‑based decision‑making.
Protecting the soil
We believe good farming starts heathy soil. And healthy soil starts with knowing your fields, and your neighbors. To protect soil nutrients and make sure they are available when plants need them, we partner with nearby farmers, rotating fields so we only grow potatoes on a field once every four years.
In between, those fields are planted with crops like corn, soybeans, edible beans or cover crops. This expanded rotation gives the soil time to rest and rebuild, adds organic matter, and helps improve water‑holding capacity and resilience. It also expands the land base for everyone involved, creating a collaborative, neighbor‑driven approach to farming.
We also use other regenerative practices like minimizing tillage, spreading manure to feed the soil naturally, and partnering with local and national grower organizations. Together, these practices help keep our soil productive today and for the seasons to come.
Safeguarding our crop
Agriculture is an industry that is uniquely dependent on one thing we can’t control — weather. That means the decisions we make to produce the best crop possible need to work with Mother Nature, not against her.
This is where our agronomists come in. At each of our farms, before we plant any seed or apply any fertilizer, our agronomy team takes the time to get to know each field. They look at its history — what’s been grown there, the soil’s composition, and how it’s been treated. Then they test the soil, checking for things like nutrients, compaction, and drainage. With that information in hand, the team builds an action plan tailored to each field’s unique needs.
That deep, field‑by‑field understanding is what allows our team to put the 4R principles into practice. Using precision technologies, we apply the right nutrient, in the right place, at the right time, and in the right amount, ensuring fertilizer decisions are grounded in data, not guesswork.
Conserving and protecting water
No matter where you are located, water is precious. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we steward this resource well to ensure there’s enough for generations to come.
To do this, we invest in smart irrigation. Tools like high-speed and variable-rate irrigators, soil moisture probes and autonomous pivots help us monitor every drop. We also track and report our water use. We’ve built our own mobile app to help our team report water use accurately. On average, we stay below our permitted water levels 97% of the time.
If we know a field is prone to erosion, we take those problem areas out of production and plant permanent cover like grassed waterways, which keeps soil in place and water free of sediment.
Sustainability by the numbers
We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, and the measurable outcomes behind our practices:
- 4+: Average number of years between each time a potato crop is planted per field
- 1,020+: Number of pollinator acres we’ve planted in the corners of our fields.
- 20,000+: Number of annual cover crops acres planted each year across R.D. Offutt Farms in the Midwest
- 400,000+: Trees planted in RDO field corners since the late 1970s
Earth Day is a great time to take a step back and reflect on what we are already doing, and plan for how to be better. Our commitment to sustainable practices is something we’ve always been passionate about, and we plan to keep it that way as long as we’re growing potatoes. (If we have it our way, that’ll be a long, long time).
