01/16/08 Annual Idaho potato conference

The dates are January 23rd and 24th. The place is the Idaho State University Pond Student Union Building. The event is the Potato Conference and it will feature motivational speaker Jay Lehr, an author and Heartland Institute science director. Lehr is expected to encourage Idaho potato growers to fight back and be more outspoken about what he calls 'a huge amount of misinformation with regard to the health aspects of potatoes.' The University of Idaho's Phil Nolte, chairman of this year's conference, says Doctor Lehr will also describe the role he believe that technology will play in keeping more kids on the farm. NOLTE "This is the third or fourth year in a row now that we have been able to bring in a keynote speaker. They have turned out to be just superb sessions, very thought provoking." Along with numerous seminars and workshops on current topics in potato production and marketing, the conference will once again include Spanish-language workshops for Hispanic farm workers on such topics as potato diseases, soil sampling, integrated pest management, fumigation, pesticide handling and Good Agricultural Practices audits. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott