Joseph’s grandsons, Joe (this issue’s interviewee), Brian, Bob, Jon and Jerome (Jerry) all continue to work in the potato industry, as do many of the founding father’s great-grandchildren. And from all indications, the Bushman legacy will continue for years and generations to come.

Joe and his brother, Brian, incorporated J&J Potatoes and Liberty Packing of Galloway, in 1987, when their father, Ernie, retired. They started the two companies in an effort to separate the growing and packaging of potatoes.

“We came up with the name J&J Potatoes from the initials of our first-born sons, Joey (Joe’s son) and Jordan (Brian),” Joe explains, “and the Liberty Packing name came from the Liberty-brand boxes we pack that my uncle, Harry Bushman, patented.”

Another arm of the business is Bushman Trucking, founded in 2006, but really going back to the 1980’s,

and including 12 long-haul trucks, nine of which are mainly used for potatoes and three for equipment.

At any one time, Bushman Trucking employs as many as 22 drivers, a far cry from the one truck Joe, Brian, Bob and Jon had in 1983, which they drove from farm to farm, hauling equipment and produce.

“It gave us the opportunity to haul our own product,” Brian says. “Today our potato business is so demanding. We drive to Washington Courthouse and Shelby, Ohio, and to Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois and Salisbury, North Carolina.”

MANDATE EATS INTO MARGINS

The profit margins are low in the trucking business, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s

NAME: Joe Bushman

TITLE: President

COMPANY: Liberty Packing Inc. and J&J

Potatoes Inc.

LOCATION: Galloway, WI

HOMETOWN: Galloway

YEARS IN PRESENT POSITION: 30 years

PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: n/a

SCHOOLING: High school

ACTIVITIES/ORGANIZATIONS:

St. Joseph’s parish council

AWARDS/HONORS: Wittenberg-

Birnamwood School Board president,

15 years

FAMILY: Wife, Wendy, married for 40

years; two children, Joey and Bethany;

and five grandchildren

HOBBIES: Bowling, hunting and grandkids

Above: A third-generation potato farmer and president of Liberty Packing Inc. and J&J Potatoes Inc. in Galloway, Wisconsin, Joe Bushman has seen a transformation in farming practices in his lifetime, including technological advances, overall efficiency and streamlined operating methods.

The Bushmans have been growing potatoes for more than a century in the Galloway, Wisconsin, area. Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association Hall of Famer Joseph Bushman began farming there in 1909.

Interview Interview Interview JOE BUSHMAN, president, Liberty Packing Inc. and J&J Potatoes Inc.By Joe Kertzman, managing editor, Badger Common’Tater

JOE BUSHMAN, president, Liberty Packing Inc. and J&J Potatoes Inc.By Joe Kertzman, managing editor, Badger Common’Tater

JOE BUSHMAN, president, Liberty Packing Inc. and J&J Potatoes Inc.By Joe Kertzman, managing editor, Badger Common’Tater

8 BC�T January

2017 Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate, which took effect December 18, isn’t likely to help.

“Our biggest fear is profitability with the ELD mandate,” Brian says. “It will take us 40 percent longer in some cases, if we’re running to Washington Courthouse and have to take an extra day because the driver is sitting at the loading dock.”

The ELD mandate allows 11 hours of drive time in a 14-hour window. So, if four-to-six hours of the 14 hours is spent in shipping and receiving after one leg of a trip, it leaves less than 10 hours of drive, fueling, break, lunch or dinner time for drivers, and loading or unloading.

“It’s not so much the mandate or even the electric logging,” Brian explains, “but that the mandate is written by people who aren’t drivers. They don’t realize that if you’re sitting in the dock, you have to drive that much longer without a break to make up the time.”

“Someone’s going to have to play hardball with the shippers and receivers. Sure, electronic logging should lessen the hours of service violations,” he concludes, “but whoever thought of this isn’t in trucking.”

Though Joe diverted trucking questions to Brian, he graciously took time to answer questions about

the rest of the potato and vegetable growing operation:

How many acres do you farm? We try to grow around 675 acres of potatoes, all fresh, mostly of the Silverton variety. We’ve been having very good luck with them.

We also plant some Goldrush to get started a few weeks earlier.

Is it strictly potatoes or other vegetables, and how many acres of each? We grow around 600 acres of sweet corn, 250 acres of soybeans and some alfalfa.

I believe your father, Ernie, worked the farm, and your grandfather, Joseph, and now your son, Joe Jr.? There must be tremendous pride there. What are you most proud of regarding your family legacy and the farm? I’m the third generation, yes, and the fourth generation is my son,

Joey, and Brian’s son, Ryan, along with my son-in-law, Kevin Kersten. They’ll be the future.

The fifth generation, my older grandchildren, Aiden and Drayden, are already starting to help and always want to come to the warehouse.

My son, Joey, is an integral part of both businesses. At J&J Potatoes, he will do the planting, cultivating, spraying and irrigating of the potatoes. At Liberty Packing,

Left: A potato field stretching to the horizon is a common sight in Galloway, Wisconsin, and has been for more than a century.

Right: In the old days, potatoes were packed in 50-pound bags or 100-pound burlap. But today, Joe Bushman of J&J Potatoes Inc. says customers have their choice of 5, 8, 10, 15 and 20 pounds, and whatever size profile they want, either non-A, A size, 5-9-ounce or 10-ounce potatoes.

continued on pg. 10

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he runs the packing shed and takes care of sales.

My daughter, Bethany Kersten, is the receptionist and secretary at Liberty Packing. Her husband (Kevin) also helps with the growing of the potatoes, running forklift and the selling of potatoes.

My nephew, Ryan Bushman, takes care of the sweet corn and soybean planting. He also helps with growing the potatoes, and when harvest

comes, he runs the Lenco Harvester.

I’m very proud of all of them and all their hard work.

Speaking of kids, what was it like on the farm for you as a kid? I just always remember working on the farm, riding the planter, irrigating and driving when I could reach the gas pedal.

Tell me about some of the technological advances on the farm,

or maybe how things are done differently today than when you first started on the farm. Start with planting. We went from a two-row planter to a six-rower outfitted with GPS. I think that GPS is one of the best advances in technology that we’ve seen.

For spraying, we went from a 24-row pull-behind sprayer without a cab to a 42-row air-conditioned machine with self-leveling booms and a Raven sprayer control.

Irrigation went from “laying pipe” every 60 rows and “changing guns,” with mud up to our knees, to the GPS pivot systems now. It’s no wonder I was good at running track in school.

Interview. . .continued from pg. 9

Above: Joe Sr.’s daughter, Bethany Kersten, shown in front of Lady Liberty, is the quality assurance manager at Liberty Packing. Joe Bushman (left) stands with his son, Joey, in front of a pallet of Liberty Potatoes. Joey is an integral part of J&J Potatoes and Liberty Packing, involved in the planting, cultivating, spraying and irrigating of potatoes, running the packing shed and taking care of sales.

Left: At J&J Potatoes, the crew harvests around 675 acres of fresh potatoes, mostly of the Silverton variety.

continued on pg. 12

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Interview. . .continued from pg. 10

How have harvesting and storage changed? We used to dig two rows at a time, but then we probably only had 180 acres. Now we dig 12 rows with two four-row windrowers and a four-row Lenco harvester.

Storing the crop now in climate-controlled buildings has really helped us keep the potatoes in better condition and able to market them longer, although we still like to be done by the first week in April.

When it comes to grading potatoes, it used to be pretty simple—it was either 50-pound bags or 100-pound

burlap. Today, it’s whatever the consumer wants—5, 8, 10, 15 and 20 pounds, and whatever size profile they want, either non-A, A size, 5-9-ounce or 10-ounce potatoes.

Is the business aspect, sales and volume, better or worse than in the past? Sales volume has been good. It started out slow early in the year, but at that time, I think the buyers were waiting for cheaper prices.

This Thanksgiving push, we were turning away orders. It looks like Christmas rush will be busy as well. The market for the rest of the year

Above: Though the dollar bill is there for scale, healthy Silverton potatoes do equate to money at J&J Potatoes.

Current Page: As the logo on his jacket indicates, Brian Bushman (standing next to his brother, Joe) handles the trucking arm of the business—Bushman Trucking.

12 BC�T January

Above: An Exeter boxer at Liberty Packing takes a picture every few milliseconds and sorts potatoes by size.

Right: Modern machinery makes it possible to dig 12 rows with two four-row windrowers and a four-row Lenco harvester.

Below: Joe Bushman’s granddaughter, Kiya Kersten, sits atop a mountain of potatoes in one photo, and his grandson, Drayden, watches a bin loader in another captured moment.

looks great with prices strong!

Do you think J&J Potatoes and Liberty Packing will for sure pass to the next generation, and if so, does that make you proud? Yes, they do a lot of the work already. I am very proud of the man my son has become. It’s nice to have family you can trust and rely on.

13BC�T January