Today I Met Robin Oakley by Drew

Robin Oakley, fifth-generation farmer and owner of Oakley’s Premium Fresh Vegetables, is extremely precise in everything he does from how he runs his business to how he talks and even walks. During our visit to his farm, it was clear that he knew what he was doing with everything, with the plethora of awards plastered over the walls from good sustainability practices to simply growing some damn good vegetables. From our time on his farm, there was not a single question thrown at him that was left without a satisfactory answer. After our initial discussion about the farm, he was ready to give us a tour, not wasting any time. As soon as we began to walk it was noticeable just how ready Robin was to show us everything. Our first stop took us to a refrigerated storage barn with beetroots inside. It certainly doesn't sound that interesting to look at beetroots in a crate inside of a cold and wet room but Robin Oakley made it interesting. Of course, there is only so much to talk about while standing in a giant refrigerator, and even Robin Oakley could only make it interesting for so long, so we were off next to see some of the processing of Robin’s true pride and joy, potatoes. Robin Oakley absolutely loves his potatoes, he can’t seem to get enough of them. He even claimed that his favorite way to eat them is just boiled, completely plain with no seasoning which personally I still have a hard time believing. After we got a look at the various potato sorting and packing machines, Robin was ready to talk about his second favorite thing just behind potatoes themselves, how he packages and sells said potatoes. For the next half hour, we watched and listened to him show us and describe all the different kinds of packaging and combinations of potato types he sells. But once again it was surprisingly entertaining and allowed us to ask lots of questions about distribution. Eventually, he had enough of talking about his final products and began to discuss some about the growing process of all of his crops. The theme of precision is ever present with Robin discussing his use of various pieces of precision agriculture equipment including soil moisture probes that are connected to his phone, the use of seed drilling and strip drilling, and many more.

Robin Oakley showing us his Oakley's golden gourmet potatoes and packaging

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