Meet the Farmer Behind Our Organic Sweet Potato Dog Treats

By Caroline Buck, Co-founder of Petaluma

Every bag of dog treats lists its ingredients, and that much is expected. Knowing the farm that grew them is another thing entirely. At Petaluma, we are lucky enough to tell you all about it. Our Organic Sweet Potato Jerky has just one ingredient: organic sweet potatoes. They are grown on a family farm in North Carolina by a third-generation farmer named Randall Watkins. We buy from him directly through our partner Happy Dirt. A direct relationship with a grower is rare in this industry, and we do not take ours for granted. We can trace these organic sweet potato dog treats back to real soil and a real farmer. In this post you'll get to know Randall and Happy Dirt, hear why we choose organic, and follow one sweet potato from the field into a single-ingredient jerky.

Meet Randall Watkins, the farmer behind the chew

Randall Watkins Jr. is a third-generation farmer in Granville County, North Carolina. His grandfather grew tobacco on this land back in 1950, and the family has farmed it ever since. Today Randall grows organic sweet potatoes across more than 150 acres, according to his farmer profile at Happy Dirt.

 

He did not inherit a sweet potato operation — he built one. Randall took the family's tobacco fields in a new direction, growing certified-organic vegetables and eventually sweet potatoes. He planted his first 10 acres in 2015 and grew that to 120 acres. North Carolina turned out to be ideal ground for the crop, with the soil and climate the plants like best. Across those acres he grows several varieties, including Covington, Garnet, Murasaki, and purple sweet potatoes, each with its own color and texture.

His approach to the work is refreshingly plain. "Don't be scared to work on something," he says in his profile. "If it's already broke, what can you mess up?" On where his food knowledge came from, he puts it simply: "The dirt taught me where my food comes from."

That care shows up in his certifications. Randall's farm is USDA Organic and GAP certified. In 2021 he earned Fair Food certification, which sets strict standards for how farmworkers are treated. He was the first organic sweet potato farmer in the United States to do it. Petaluma buys organic largely to protect the people who grow our food, so that is exactly the kind of grower we want behind our jerky.

Meet Happy Dirt, the farmer-owned cooperative

We buy our sweet potatoes through Happy Dirt, an organic produce company based in Durham, North Carolina, where the farmers who grow the food also own the business. Randall is one of those farmer-owners. He joined in 2018 as the youngest owner in the group.

The farmer-owner model is the part we care about most. Happy Dirt is structured as a cooperative, so the farmers who grow the food share in the business that sells it. That structure keeps more of the value with the people doing the growing, and it favors smaller organic farms over industrial-scale monoculture.

This fits how we think about sourcing at Petaluma. Buying organic is, for us, partly about the crop and partly about who grows it. A cooperative of certified-organic family farms is exactly the kind of supply chain we want our treats to run through.

Why we buy organic sweet potatoes

One of our core values at Petaluma is using as many organic ingredients as we reasonably can. The clearest reason has less to do with your dog's bowl and more to do with the people in the field.

Farmworkers carry the heaviest pesticide exposure of anyone in the food system. Certified-organic farming sharply limits the synthetic pesticides used on a crop, which protects the workers who plant, tend, and hand-harvest it, along with their families and nearby communities. We walk through this argument in detail in our post on the health benefits of organic farming.

The second reason is more personal: we want our money to reach smaller family farms. That support comes less from the organic label itself and more from how we buy. Our direct relationship through Happy Dirt's farmer-owner cooperative routes more of each dollar to the grower. For us, choosing organic and choosing partners like this go hand in hand. Randall's Fair Food certification adds another layer, protecting the workers who bring the crop in.

We try to be clear about what organic does and does not prove. Organic does not automatically make every ingredient more nutritious. For us, the strongest case rests on worker protection and on keeping smaller farms viable.

Why sweet potato is so good for your dog

Sweet potato is a whole-food powerhouse, and dogs love it. It is naturally nutrient-dense, and two things really stand out for most dogs: fiber and beta-carotene.

Fiber supports healthy digestion. Beneficial gut bacteria ferment certain fibers into short-chain fatty acids. Those acids supply much of the energy that colon cells run on and help keep the intestinal environment healthy, per the Merck Veterinary Manual. That is part of why a plain sweet potato chew sits gently in a lot of sensitive stomachs.

Beta-carotene is the pigment that makes the flesh orange. It acts as an antioxidant, and a dog's body can convert some of it into vitamin A. Beta-carotene is one of the plant compounds we cover in our guide to phytonutrients for dogs.

Here is roughly what cooked sweet potato delivers per 100 grams, based on USDA FoodData Central figures. For a deeper breakdown, see our full post on whether sweet potatoes are good for dogs.

Nutrient (per 100 g cooked)	Amount	Why it matters for dogs
Vitamin A (from beta-carotene)	≈ 961 mcg RAE	Antioxidant; supports vision and skin
Dietary fiber	≈ 3.3 g	Feeds gut bacteria; firms stool
Vitamin C	≈ 19.6 mg	Antioxidant support
Potassium	≈ 475 mg	Electrolyte for nerve and muscle function

Treats should stay under about 10% of your dog's daily calories, whatever the treat. Our jerky runs around 50 calories per piece, so a little goes a long way.

From the field to a single-ingredient jerky

The best part of a single-ingredient chew is how little happens to it. Sweet potato harvest is hard, hands-on work. Randall's crew plows the rows and then hand-picks the potatoes, an all-day job from morning to night. After the harvest, those organic sweet potatoes come straight to us.

We make the Organic Sweet Potato Jerky in three steps: the potatoes are grown on organic farms in North Carolina, cut into chewable slices, then air-dried in small batches. That is the whole process. There is one ingredient and no additives, ever.

A short ingredient list also makes the label easy to read. When a chew contains one thing, you know exactly what your dog is chewing, and you can trace it back to a field and a farmer. That traceability is the reason we wanted to write this post.

A plant chew carries a lighter footprint than a meat one, which is a nice bonus. Choosing sweet potato jerky over chicken jerky cuts greenhouse gas emissions by about 90%, freshwater use by about 99%, and land-use impact by about 90%. The packaging is compostable too. Those are supporting reasons for us, not the main event. The main event is a clean, simple chew your dog loves.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Petaluma source its sweet potatoes?

We buy certified-organic sweet potatoes through Happy Dirt, a farmer-owned organic produce cooperative in Durham, North Carolina. Our grower Randall Watkins farms more than 150 organic acres in Granville County, North Carolina.

Are organic sweet potatoes better for dogs?

Organic certification limits synthetic pesticides on the crop. The clearest benefit is lower pesticide exposure for the farmworkers who grow it, as we explain in our post on the health benefits of organic farming. Organic also tends to support smaller family farms.

What is in Petaluma's Sweet Potato Jerky?

One ingredient: organic sweet potato. The jerky is cut into slices and air-dried in small batches, with no additives. It is high in fiber and comes in compostable packaging.

Are sweet potatoes good for dogs?

Yes, and many dogs love them. Cooked sweet potato is a nutrient-dense, whole-food source of fiber and beta-carotene. Our full guide covers the details on whether sweet potatoes are good for dogs.

How many sweet potato treats can my dog have?

Keep all treats under about 10% of your dog's daily calories. Our jerky is roughly 50 calories per piece, so adjust the count to your dog's size and ask your veterinarian if you are unsure.

What is Happy Dirt?

Happy Dirt is an organic produce company in Durham, North Carolina that runs on a farmer-owner cooperative model. It partners with organic growers, including our sweet potato farmer Randall Watkins, and emphasizes fair farming practices.

Is sweet potato jerky safe for dogs with sensitive stomachs?

A single-ingredient sweet potato chew is often gentle for sensitive dogs, in part because its fiber supports the gut, as the Merck Veterinary Manual describes. Introduce any new treat slowly, and check with your veterinarian if your dog has ongoing digestive issues.

References

1. Happy Dirt. Organic Farmer Profile: Randall Watkins. 2023. happydirt.com.
2. Merck Veterinary Manual. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. merckvetmanual.com.
3. US Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central. Sweet potato, cooked. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
4. Petaluma. The Health Benefits of Organic Farming. feedpetaluma.com.
5. Petaluma. Are Sweet Potatoes Good for Dogs? feedpetaluma.com.