2010 Potato Expo

2010 Potato Expo

2010 Potato Expo. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
Today marks the first day of the second annual Potato Expo in Orlando, Florida. It is a chance for the entire industry to get together according to National Potato Council’s John Keeling.

KEELING: The success that we had last year was tremendous and the attendance was far beyond what we would ever have imagined and we’re seeing that the expo in 2010 is going to build on that. We would expect attendance to exceed – be 20% greater than it was last year so it’s a real validation that the potato industry saw the importance of bringing all of the various sectors together and addressing issues and listening to speakers on topics that were critical to the industry.

Keeling talks about what kinds of topics the attendees will be discussing.

KEELING: You’ve got the text and subtext of all this. You’ve got what’s going on inside the sessions and you’ve got what discussions are happening in the hallways. The sessions are going to focus a lot on sustainability, there’s going to be some big discussions on biotechnology and the role biotechnology might play in the potato industry. And then in the hallways I think you are going to hear some of those same topics discussed broadly but you’re going to hear a lot of people talking about the price of potatoes which is not good right now.

Orlando in January is most certainly a draw in of itself but Keeling says there will be some great information coming out of this year’s expo.

KEELING: It’s access to real quality speakers on important issues for your industry and it’s too the networking. It is a who’s who of the potato industry. Again we’ll see, we believe over 12-hundred folks who are involved in the potato industry at this meeting. People told us last year, you walk down the halls and you see everybody you’ve known throughout your life in the industry and so it creates real valuable connections for people both from a business point of view and from almost a social point of view, too.

Last year’s meeting in San Antonio, Texas was the first time that all 4 of the potato sectors came together. Before that each held their own meeting.

KEELING: At the core of it it’s all about growers growing potatoes and trying to be profitable doing it.

I will once again be attending the meeting as both reporter for the NW Ag Network and as a media representative for the potato industry.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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