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4 Potato Grower | JUNE 2010
EDITORIAL Tyler J. Baum
tbaum@potatogrower.com
Nancy Sanchez nancy@potatogrower.com
Dr. Phil Nolte, UI Potato Specialist
pnolte@uidaho.edu
Appreciating Seed
HAVING GROWN UP ON A SEED farm in the community of Ashton, Idaho, which brags itself as the Seed Potato Producing Capital of the World, rogueing was a given. By mid-summer, many people were out diligently hiking through the fields with shovel in hand, painstakingly pulling out diseased plants in order for the fields to pass inspection. Some summers were more difficult
than others. I remember one year, my uncle swearing up and down as he rogued one of our fields about how horrible it was looking in EVERYONE’S fields, not just ours. But I also do remember years when it was actually kind of fun. Dad had a cooler full of ice and soda in the shade at one end of the field, so when we reached that end of the field we could quench our thirst and cool off a little. While we were working hard, the truth is, we were out enjoying a beautiful day. A good crop starts with good seed.
It’s where it all begins. If a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, it had to start with corrupt seed. In the potato industry, seed growers work extra hard to make sure their seed is as clean as it can possibly be—because a good potato plant yields good potatoes. As I interviewed Steve Winchester
for the rogueing article on page 16 of this issue, he told me that seed potatoes
need to be considered a firm input cost—not a lot different than fertilizer, water or electricity. “You can’t barter with the fertilizer
company. You can’t barter with the electric company,” he says. Winchester suggests that growers be
grateful for the effort seed growers put into growing the next year’s crop. “The seed producer is not asking to
be rich. He wants to be healthy enough to put his crop in next year, for these other growers down the line. If one doesn’t feel appreciated financially, they just will not produce—the heart and the interest is gone.” I’m reminded of what USPB CEO Tim
O’Conner said at the Annual Meeting in Denver a couple months ago. He said that if the sectors compete with each other, it will only hurt the industry. And you get what you pay for, which is what Romulo Rivas of Seed Potato Services pointed out to me while I interviewed him for the same rogueing article. Sometimes the little extra we pay for takes care of potential problems that would arise later, saving time and money in the long run. Another thing
Winchester also suggests is for commercial growers to put the same kind of effort into
PUBLISHER Jason Harris
FROM THE FIELD by Tyler J. Baum, Editor