Kent Taylor
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Kent Taylor, Idaho Falls, has been a farmer, rancher, shipper, warehouse owner/manager, marketer and good friend to growers throughout his 70-year career in the potato industry. For his dedication to the industry, Taylor has been named to the 2020 East Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame.
As well as growing, buying, storing, selling and shipping potatoes, he’s been involved in hay, wheat, barley, corn, and cattle.
Taylor has made a significant individual impact on, and contribution to, agriculture in east Idaho. He grew up on a small farm near Grant, where he learned farming and the potato shipping and warehouse business alongside his father, Howard, who recognized the advantage of controlling their family’s potato crop from planting through to market.
Even as a teenager, Taylor had the ability to analyze the market, predict crop yields and quality, and negotiate deals with sellers and buyers while making lifelong friends in the process.
Taylor and his brothers, Bill and Carl, formed Howard Taylor & Sons in 1975 and owned and operated several fresh pack warehouses in east Idaho through the years. By 2009, in addition to the fresh pack business, the Taylors were growing potatoes, hay, barley, wheat and corn on more than 20,000 acres.
In 2011, Rexburg Fresh merged with Taylor Brothers and the name was changed to Gold Emblem Produce.
Taylor retired in 2014. Until that time, he was one of the last shed owners in east Idaho to do his own sales.
Taylor has three children. He and his wife, Larraine, enjoy golfing and time with friends and family.