03/01/07 Gov`s Award, Cranney

Near Oakley you'll find Michael Cranney and his brothers growing potatoes on seven thousand acres they own and eleven thousand acres they lease. CRANNEY "This lot of potatoes is Russet Burbank's. We are planning on trying to fresh pack these. We feel pretty good about the crop." Cranney minored in economics at Utah State and believes in the concept of supply and demand. Unfortunately in the past there have been many potatoes hitting the marketplace. CRANNEY "We had arrogance to the point that we were trying to defy economic law that eventually if we didn't change our strategy that it was going to take us down and of course we had four years of unprecedented low prices that kind of put everybody on their knees." Cranney won a spot on the National Potato Council, the national Potato Promotion Board and was export chairman but he's always looking to the future and new markets. CRANNEY "If we can get together on marketing out of Idaho on some kind of a reasonable managed effect then you know we may want to put 25 cents a sack into marketing. Go in and sell value added." Michael Cranney, Governor's Agriculture Award Winner for 2007. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott