Two Seed Operations to Fill Two Markets

Both farms in a very isolated area for good disease control, especially viruses like mosaic. Operations keep totally separate with each farm having its own land, equipment and personnel.

San Luis Hills Seed Farm

Affordable Seed

Produces Field Genaration 1 though 3. Source of seed for Affordable seed. High quality G3 seed available for sale for the buyer wanting the best. Our seed stocks start from tissue culture derived greenhouse mini tubers.

With our excellent isolation with no commercial farms nearby we plant the seed from San Luis Hills Seed farm and can raise it affordably and pass the savings onto the buyer interested in seed value. All seed sized for a 7 oz top size. Generations 4 and 5.

About Both Farms:

San Luis Hills Seed farm is located in a remote area 25 miles southwest of Fort Garland at the base of the San Luis Hills. It is at the east edge of the San Luis Valley in south central Colorado the highest alpine desert in the world at 7600 feet above sea level. This climate gives our seed potatoes a high altitude vigor. The mountains all around form a natural barrier and the cold winters eliminate or reduce some pest problems. Green peach aphids populations are reduced by a grower funded, area wide Integrated Pest Management program. This, and the limited generation program of Colorado potato seed, leads to low levels of leafroll in our seed. All certified potato seed in Colorado must be inspected by the Potato Certification service commissioned by the Colorado Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the Colorado Certified Potato Grower's Association (an association of seed growers). Field inspections coupled with modern testing techniques, such as the use of ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) for virus detection and winter growout tests insure that the entry level stocks are free from harmful potato viruses and bacteria. Federal and State Marketing Orders are in place in Colorado, requiring each load of seed shipped out of the marketing area to have a Federal/State inspection for grade and quality. This assures the buyer of receiving the size and grade requested every time. The high altitude and cool stort season produce a crop with high vigor. Fields are closely monitored for insect pests using pan traps, sticky traps and individual field monitoring and sweeping. Pest control is a season long effort using many tools such as trap crops, natural predators, the right pesticides and isolation. Strict sanitation is always utilized. We use separate equipment for our lower generations of seed and a hot seed cutter to ensure low disease levels. Special care is taken during harvest and storage to minimize tuber damage and maximize long term storage. Colorado holds a unique position, located in the west central part of the U.S., making its seed easily accessible to all major growing areas in the U.S. and Mexico. For more information on U.S. potato seed click here.