Discovering NC Agriculture is a year-long series focusing on twelve N.C. grown, raised, caught, and made commodities. Tune in each month to see how an N.C. commodity is grown, harvested, packed for consumer use and more. Learn nutritional value, find fun recipes to try, hear from local chefs who use that product, and other unique commodity facts throughout the series. We look forward to helping you better understand some of our N.C. commodities and how they impact your everyday lives!
Sweet potatoes have been a vital part of our state’s agriculture industry for many years. Although the Covington variety is still the heart of the industry, other varieties have developed through the years to provide new looks, tastes, and customer profiles for farmers. The Barnes Family, operators of Farm Pak/Barnes Farming in Spring Hope, has been producing many varieties of sweet potatoes since 1969 for both domestic and international consumption.
Carson Barnes, founder of Barnes Farming, grew up working in agriculture and always had a love for the land. When Barnes Farming opened in the early 1960s, sweet potatoes and tobacco were the original crops raised. “My grandfather started this farm on less than an acre of land,” said third-generation farmer, Jacy Barnes Clapp. “My father grew up on this farm and contributed greatly to its growth over the past 30 years. Like him, my siblings and I also grew up working on the farm. It’s always been home for us.” Although Jacy has always loved the farm, she didn’t realize that’s where she wanted to spend her career until she was in college at NC State University. “I always said that I wanted to major in Public Relations and, maybe one day, tie it in with agriculture,” she said. “During my time in college, I interned with the NCDA&CS, which reignited my love for agriculture and shifted my trajectory back to the family farm.” Today, Jacy works as the Marketing Director of Barnes Farming, alongside her brother Josh, who serves as president and manages the farms day-to-day operations.
Barnes Farming is home to 21,000 acres of total farmland, with more than 6,000 of those acres dedicated to sweet potatoes. Covington is their top variety of sweet potato grown, but they also produce Murasaki (or Japanese) sweet potatoes and Purple sweet potatoes. “About 80% of our acreage belongs to the Covington variety because it is the number one variety grown in our state and is excellent for mashing and roasting,” said Jose Calderon, Sales Manager at Farm Pak. “It is an orange skin, orange flesh, sweet potato variety with a sweet, moist flavor that works with almost any dish.” Farm Pak also produces Organic Covington sweet potatoes, which have the same color and taste profile as regular Covington sweet potatoes, but differ in growth process.
Murasaki sweet potatoes are a white flesh, purple skin variety that have become highly popular overseas and with international audiences. Originally from Japan, these sweet potatoes present a starchier and nuttier flavor than the Covington. “Murasaki sweet potatoes take a month longer to grow than our other varieties due to their higher starch content,” Jose (aka “Pepe”) said. “Not only have they diversified the sweet potato crop for us, but also our customer base both domestic and international.”
Finally, the Purple Splendor sweet potato variety is exactly as it sounds – a purple skin, purple flesh sweet potato. Not only does it present a unique flavor profile, but also a beautiful color to entrees and desserts. “Our purple variety is unique to others across the state because it doesn’t present the bitter flavor that many other purple varieties do and keeps its purple color throughout the cooking process,” Pepe said. “Our purple sweet potatoes are very dense, uniform and sweet, making for a great eating potato.” Purple sweet potatoes are grown and harvested at the same time as the Covington sweet potatoes.
As sweet potato farmers, the Barnes family is always thinking about the next growing season and/or next variety of sweet potato to try. “We work closely with NC State University to learn about their sweet potato variety trials and even have the opportunity to try some of them on our farm from year to year,” Jacy said. “One thing many people don’t realize however, is how far out we have to plan for a strong sweet potato harvest.” Sweet potato slips currently in the greenhouse, for example, will not be harvested until the fall of 2027! “We are always thinking three years in advance,” Pepe said. “We get our plants directly from NC State and do all the micropropagation ourselves, which adds time onto the process, but promises a well-rounded product throughout.” After sweet potatoes are harvested, they are brought into the packing house to be sorted and packaged.
Sweet potatoes from Farm Pak can be found at many major retail chains across the state. They offer loose sweet potatoes, bagged sweet potatoes, and microwave sweet potatoes in each variety discussed above, as well as organic sweet potatoes int eh Covington variety. In addition to sweet potatoes, the family also produces watermelons, soybeans, persimmons, wheat, peanuts and tobacco.
As the third generation to own and operate the farm, Jacy and Josh hope the farm will continue for many years to come and leave a lasting legacy on the N.C. Agriculture industry. “More than anything, we want our family to be remembered as good stewards of the land,” Jacy said. “My grandfather and father always treated the land with respect, not just on our farm but any farm across the state. My brother and I plan to follow in their footsteps and keep that sentiment as the heart of this company.” We are so proud of all that the Barnes family has contributed to our state’s number one industry through the years. We can’t wait to see how the generations will continue to expand their legacy in the years to come!
