How I Became a Potato Grower
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007By Larry Alsum, current chairman of the United States Potato Board
I grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, America’s Dairyland, and have always enjoyed farm life. However, I have to confess that during high school I decided I did not want to be a dairy farmer. I grew up milking cows seven days a week, morning and night, and I knew that I did not want to do that the rest of my life. That decision motivated me to go off to college and get a business degree in accounting. When I graduated from college in 1975, I worked for a CPA firm for six years doing auditing and tax work for many small business clients and gained a lot of business background and experience. My wife Paula, a registered nurse (RN), was working at a hospital in the Critical Care Unit. Life was good.
Wisconsin potato fields in the summer.
