01/17/05 37th Annual Idaho Potato Conference

It opens on January 18th with the Idaho Seed Potato Growers Seminar followed by two days of seminars and workshops on potatoes. The 37th annual Potato Conference in Pocatello is a chance for growers to get the latest information on potential problems they may face this spring, summer and fall. The University of Idaho's Phil Nolte says they will spend time talking about two problems growers faced last year. NOLTE "The pink rot situation was worse than we expected based on what we thought was a season that was more friendly to the growers and less friendly for the disease. But turns out that maybe we didn't know all we thought we did about it and we're still trying to figure out what happened there." The other problem was an outbreak of late blight. Nolte says the weather conditions last year were ideal for the formation of the blight spores. NOLTE "We did expect it to come but then again it does something different every time it comes as well." There will also feature a panel of industry representatives from McCain`s and Basic American Foods who will tell producers how to get the best possible raw-product prices for fresh packing, processing and dehydration. Albert Wada will update growers on the new super-cooperative, United Fresh Potato Growers of Idaho and there will be a workshop dealing with opportunities for marketing potatoes to Mexico. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott