Sweet Potato Production

VARDAMAN, Miss. (WCBI)- Sweet potato farmers in Vardaman are working from sun up to sun down as harvest season approaches.

With over 2,800 acres to dig and less than two months to do it, they are constantly trying to fill customer orders.

Alexander Farms is producing between three and four hundred bushels per acre. While that may sound like a lot, owner Kenneth Alexander, says that’s down about one hundred bushels per acre.

Although the yields are down, Alexander says it is still early and that harvest can always change.

Hurricane Florence has flooded the sweet potato fields in North Carolina and is affecting farmers here in North Mississippi.

“Right now since all of that disaster in North Carolina has happened packing lines is just packing all we can pack everyday,” said Kenneth Alexander. “I think it will continue to be that way, and I think the price is going to go up too.”

Alexander Farms not only produces sweet potatoes but they also harvest soybeans.