How Flying A Ranch in Ashton grows certified seed potatoes
May 26, 2026
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15:42Judge Justin Beresky explains how judges make their sentencing decisions
3:36Now PlayingHow Flying A Ranch in Ashton grows certified seed potatoes
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as posted by the channel#eastidahonews #fromthefield #farmlife
ASHTON – Since the passing of her husband in 2024, Emma Atchley remains the face behind the ranch they started running together in the late 1970s.
Flying A Ranch, established in 1972 in Ashton, is recognized nationwide as a leader in certified seed potatoes. It grows between 800 and 1,000 acres of seed potatoes on the 5,000-acre spread, according to the Ashton Chamber of Commerce. It sells between 200,000 and 250,000 sacks of seed potatoes every year, most of which are sold to customers throughout the Pacific Northwest and used to make French fries.
“We tend to specialize in the russet type. We have Russet Burbanks and rangers. The rangers are a French fry potato that processors like because they get big, long, and smooth, and they have less waste than some of the other varieties,” Atchley tells EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s a popular variety right now. It’s one of the few potatoes that has had commercial success after having been introduced in the last 20 years.”
The Atchleys also harvest wheat and canola and have a small cattle operation.
Emma is mostly retired now. Her daughter, Laura Pickard, and her husband, Clay, run the ranch full-time. Last week, a group of graduate students from the University of Idaho visited the ranch’s 20,000-square-foot sterile greenhouse, where seed potatoes are meticulously grown year-round. It was one stop on the group’s Idaho potato industry tour, which took place over three days. EastIdahoNews.com paid a visit as well, which you can watch in the video above.
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