How Jensen Farm Removed Foreign Material and Shortened Sorting Runs with Raytec Ingenuity

Jensen Farm is a family-run agricultural business in Taber, southern Alberta, Canada, managed by Ryan Jensen and his brother. For 25 years the farm has grown a wide range of potato varieties, supplying mainly processing plants, with a seasonal crew of 15 to 25 people.

For a grower selling to processors, a clean delivery is part of the product. Every load that reaches the plant must be free of anything that can damage equipment or stop the line.

The Challenge: Foreign Material and Long Sorting Shifts

The biggest issue for Jensen Farm was foreign material in unwashed potatoes: rocks, bones and even golf balls coming in from the field.

“Foreign material can really affect how the plants run and their overall productivity.” — Ryan Jensen, Owner, Jensen Farm

At the same time, production runs could last up to 12 hours, a heavy load on a seasonal crew that is increasingly hard to find and keep.

Finding the Right Technology Partner 

Jensen Farm researched and tested different solutions before choosing Raytec Vision. The farm needed a sorter able to work on unwashed product straight from the field, at high capacity, and with reliable rejection of hard foreign bodies.

The Solution: Ingenuity Optical Sorter for Unwashed Potatoes

Jensen Farm installed Ingenuity, Raytec’s double-vision optical sorter for washed and unwashed potatoes.

The system is designed to:

• Combine visible color and NIR (near infrared) cameras to recognize each object
• Detect and remove rocks, soil clods and other foreign material

• Reject green potatoes and defects before storage or delivery
• Handle up to 100 t/h in its largest configuration
• Eject with mechanical fingers made of a high-resistance, anti-abrasion material, built for dirty field product 

Results: Cleaner Deliveries and Shorter Runs

✅ Foreign material removed before the product reaches the processing plant.

✅ Sorting runs reduced from 12 hours

✅ Fewer operators on the sorting line.

✅ Faster, more efficient run times.

✅ Cleaner, more consistent product for processing partners.

“This machine ensures that the product comes out clean and ready for processing. It allows operations to be more pinpointed and successful.” — Ryan Jensen 

A Better Place to Work

For Ryan Jensen, one of the most valuable results is not on the sorting line but in the team. Shorter, more manageable shifts improve work-life balance and make it easier to retain seasonal staff, a growing challenge for farms across North America.

Looking Ahead

Ryan Jensen recommends Ingenuity to fellow growers who want to improve efficiency, and to seed potato producers facing the same foreign-material and labor challenges.

For Jensen Farm, the investment has become more than a sorting machine: it protects the relationship with processing customers, saves hours every day and helps build a more stable team.