UC’s ‘Sweet Potato Man’ Seeks Perfect Product

“I Yam a Sweet Potato Man” proclaimed the hat worn by University of California farm adviser Bob Scheuerman.

The cap was appropriate. Scheuerman, 57, has been California’s official sweet potato expert for 27 years. As such, he puts one age-old question quickly to rest.

“There is a lot of confusion over the names yam and sweet potato, “ said Scheuerman, explaining the message on his cap. “They’re both sweet potatoes.

“A yam is a sweet potato with red, purple or copper-colored skin and moist orange flesh after cooking. The creamy-colored potato with yellow dry flesh after cooking is commonly called the sweet potato.”

Scheuerman works closely with sweet potato growers and processors. He has an experimental plot here, where he grows different varieties of sweet potatoes in his never-ending search for the perfect potato.

“The best-looking, best-tasting sweet potatoes in America come from California. Yet, few Californians are aware sweet potatoes grow in this state,” he said.

Livingston, about 65 miles north of Fresno in Merced County, is the sweet potato capital of California. Within the 15-mile radius of this small farm center, 80% of the state’s sweet potatoes are grown. Farmers have been planting sweet potatoes in Merced County since the 1860s.

North Carolina is the No. 1 sweet potato state, with 35,000 acres devoted to the crop. Louisiana is second with 19,000 acres, and California third with 8,000 acres. Sweet potatoes are raised on 94,000 acres in a dozen states.

About 100 farmers grow sweet potatoes in Livingston. The smallest farm is six acres, the largest 350 acres. Sweet potatoes are a $30-million crop for California farmers.

Scheuerman says sweet potatoes are like turkeys: “Most people eat them only at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. They’re available year-round, rich in Vitamin A and can be prepared in a variety of ways.

“You can bake, fry, boil, steam, pan-roast and charcoal-broil sweet potatoes, make cakes, cookies, casseroles, souffles, croquettes, stuffing, salads, breads, waffles, biscuits, pies and puddings out of sweet potatoes. French-fried sweet potatoes and sweet potato chips are delicious. There is even a sweet potato punch,” Scheuerman said.

People in the Southern states eat more sweet potatoes than any other Americans. “Southerners are raised on sweet potatoes. They love sweet potato pie. During the Civil War, there were over 1 million acres in the South in sweet potatoes. The Civil War was fought by the South on a diet of sweet potatoes,” said Scheuerman.

He publishes Sweet Potato Tips six times a year. It has a circulation of 300, mostly sweet potato growers and processors in California. He is a member of the state and national Sweet Potato Councils and also of the National Sweet Potato Collaborators, a research group of about 100 sweet potato scientists.

“People laugh when I tell them I’m going to a sweet potato convention,” allowed the farm adviser.

On his quarter-acre experimental plot here, Scheuerman is currently testing a dozen different varieties of sweet potatoes. “Over the years I’ve tested more than 50 different varieties. I’m always trying to come up with a better sweet potato, better-looking, better-tasting, insect and disease-resistant sweet potato,” he explained.

More garnets--red and purple-skin sweet potatoes with orange flesh--are grown in California than any other type. Scheuerman introduced the garnet to California many years ago. The garnet and jewel, a copper-colored potato with deep orange flesh, are yams, and account for 90% of the California crop.

The rest of the state’s sweet potato production is the Jersey, a creamy-colored potato with dry, yellow flesh preferred by certain ethnic groups, including the Chinese and Japanese.

Sweet potatoes do exceptionally well in the Livingston area because of the sandy soil here, and because the plants are irrigated. Water is pumped into ditch groves next to the plant and goes directly to the lower roots, without getting the sweet potatoes wet. Sweet potatoes grow on mounds higher than the irrigation ditches.

“Because California sweet potatoes are not rained on, and don’t get wet, they do not develop deep eyes, bumps, become misshapen or rot, problems often caused by rain in other parts of the country,” said the farm adviser.

The sweet potato harvest time in California is mid-September through October.