Resources

Our customers

We value our customers. Here they are:

Potatoes

Specialty products

Iott Seed Farms grows about 25 million pounds of seed potatoes annually. We also grow a few potatoes that end up in these popular Michigan-made products:

• North River Vodka: North River Vodka is distilled in Traverse City from potatoes grown by Iott Seed Farms.

• Great Lakes Potato Chip Co. purple chips: Iott Seed Farms grows the “Blackberry” variety of purple potatoes that Great Lakes Potato Chip Co. makes.

Industry links

  • Midwest Water Stewards is a group of farmers and agribusinesses that are driven to protect and preserve the water resources that make our area one of the most valuable and viable regions for agriculture in the world. It manages all the data from the 200-plus monitoring wells that farmers have installed at their own expense to gauge the effects that withdrawals have on our water resources.

  • The Michigan Potato Industry Commission was formed in 1970 by the Michigan legislature as the state’s potato research, promotion and education organization. The MPIC is supported by assessments on all potato growers in Michigan.

  • Potato Growers of Michigan works to keep the legislature and decision makers in Lansing and Washington, D.C., informed on the needs of the Michigan potato industry. PGMI is the key advocate for Michigan potato growers and works to ensure that reliable economic data and sound science are the basis for decisions that impact growers.

In the news

Here are some interesting items from the past several years that have been posted about Iott Seed Farms:

Videos

• Spudman, Nov. 26, 2015: Dennis Iott talks about growing seed potatoes and life in Kalkaska, Michigan

• Michigan Potato Industry Commission, March 5, 2019: Michigan Potatoes Industry Profile — Iott Seed Farms

• Kalkaska Conservation District, Nov. 30, 2024: Iotts awarded Conservation Farmer of the Year at conference

Causes we care about

Here are some organizations that help people locally that we support. If you are able, we encourage you to do so as well.

  • Karen’s Pantry is located at Kalkaska High School and offers help for students with many needs, including laundry facilities, food, clothing, personal items and much more.

  • Project Feed the Kids was created during the Covid epidemic by Tiffany McQueer at J&S Hamburg in Traverse City. The goal is to provide meals on weekends and in the summer to students who are in need of meals outside of school hours. There are coolers located in several locations in Northern Michigan where these meals are available 24 hours a day, no questions asked.

  • Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was organized to allow every child from birth to 5 years old get a book in the mail once per month at no cost to the parents with the goal of instilling the love of reading and get kids excited about books. Dawn Iott, Dennis Iott’s wife, is involved in the project. Jolene Dixon, daughter of Tom Dixon, was the first child in Kalkaska County to be registered in the program.

Ralph Iott Scholarship

The Ralph Iott Hands-On Skilled Trades and Agricultural Scholarship was created by Greg Iott to honor Ralph Iott, who farmed his entire life and started Iott Seed Farms in 1974. The scholarship is awarded annually to a Kalkaska High School graduating senior who is planning to pursue education beyond high school in agriculture or the skilled trades.