09/08/08 Organic potato field days

There are two field days next week for farmers who want to grow or market organic potatoes. Idaho Falls organic farmer Chris Taylor will host a field day at his farm Thursday September 18th and Fred Brossy will do the same at his Shoshone farm on Friday, September 19th. It is a chance to talk to growers, see what they do and why they do it says Keith Esplin of the Potato Growers of Idaho. ESPLIN "The organic market for potatoes is still real small. Nobody is going to claim we're going to sell ten or 20 percent of our potatoes that way." For a state known for its potatoes, Idaho isn't known for its organic potato production. ESPLIN "Takes a whole different mindset than raising a traditional commercial crop and so we want to be able to answer those questions, show any prospective growers or industry people how its done and we also have a couple speakers coming to talk about alternative crops because if you're going to get into an organic system you can't raise potatoes every year so we'll have some information on what other crops are available and what those markets are like that growers make want to look into as well." If you want to attend either session contact Esplin by email, at pgike@cableone.net or call by Friday at 208-243-1824. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott