By Joe Kertzman, Managing Editor
In north central Wisconsin on the outwash plain known as the Antigo Flats sits Igl Farms, a family-owned and operated potato farm just north of Antigo. Herman Igl bought the farm in the 1930s and became one of the first commercial potato growers in the area.
Igl Farms was a dairy and potato farm until the early 1990s when the dairy herd was sold. Today the operation is owned by Tom Igl and his sons, Brad and Brian, and is a certified organic potato and vegetable farm.
Several crops are grown in rotation, including potatoes, oats, clover or alfalfa hay, with pastureland for a small herd of beef cattle and horses, and field peas for seed. Lately the Igl family has been selling oats for organic food products.
They grow biologically following the program and biological farming principles of Midwestern Bio-Ag of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. This consists mainly of balancing the soil minerals, increasing soil biology and improving soil tilth and structure to create healthier soil, plants and food for animals and people.
