Gregg Halverson, president and chief executive officer of Black Gold Farms headquartered in Grand Forks received the 2013 Potato Man for All Seasons award last week in San Antonio.  The award is presented by The Packer and TheGrower.com in conjunction with the National Potato Council.
 
Gregg has led Black Gold Farms to be the leader in fresh chip potatoes and recently expanded into the red, yellow & fingerling table stock market. Gregg has always been an innovator and industry leader.
 
Halverson and Black Gold Farms have received a long list of industry awards over the years.  Most recently, Black Gold Farms was nominated by the PMA for the Marketing Impact award for a red potato & McCormick seasoning value-added product.
 
Gregg has also been honored with several personal awards, such as the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association, Meritorious Service Award in 2000, and the 7th World Potato Congress Industry Award in New Zealand in 2009, just to name a few.
 
In 2011 Gregg was inducted into the North Dakota Agricultural Hall of Fame as well as received an Honorary Lifetime Membership into the Potato Association of America. In 2012, Gregg was named Top Producer from Top Producer Magazine, and also in 2012, Gregg received an Honorary Doctorate from North Dakota State University.
 
In 1986 Black Gold Farms started its first long distance potato venture in Southeast Missouri.  Today the company has grown to over 20,000 acres of potatoes with eleven individual farms in eleven states as well as three packing facilities throughout the US.  Black Gold Farms continues to grow potatoes for chips, but also produces table stock potatoes, sweet potatoes and peanuts.
 
Black Gold Farm locations include Pearsall, Texas; Live Oak, Florida; Hawkinsville, Georgia; Oak Grove Louisiana, Arbyrd, Missouri; Charleston, Missouri; Columbia, North Carolina; Rhodesdale, Maryland; Winamac, Indiana; Sturgis, Michigan and Forest River, North Dakota.  In 2012, the Black Gold Farms headquarters built and moved into a new building in Grand Forks, ND that is in the process of being Gold
 
An industry leader, Gregg's resume includes extensive service on boards, councils and associations. Gregg is currently on the Board of Directors of Northern Plains Potato Growers Association, and was the association's chairman in 2010. Gregg has also been on the Environmental Affairs Committee with the National Potato Council and was the founding chair of the U.S. Potato Boards Chip Sub-Committee. (From Potato Bytes)