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POTATO POTATO POTATO GROWER May 2009 - $3.95 - Serving The National Potato Industry - www.potatogrower.com GROWER May 2009 - $3.95 - Serving The National Potato Industry - www.potatogrower.com published 13 times a year by Harris Publishing Inc. GROWER May 2009 - $3.95 - Serving The National Potato Industry - www.potatogrower.com Subscriptions: U.S. and Possessions $24.00 per year, International $44.00 per year. Copyright 2010 Harris Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Back issues available at $5 per copy. Limited quantities. Publisher not responsible for content of materials submitted. PRESIDENT Jason Harris VICE PRESIDENT Chuck Harris VICE PRESIDENT Ryan Harris VICE PRESIDENT Steve Janes TREASURER Clayton Ward SECRETARY Janet Chase Canadian Publisher’s Agreement No. 40606038, Customer No. 7004671. Mailed under a standard rate mailing permit at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and at additional mailing offices. Also Publishers of: Sugar Producer Mountain West Turf ADVERTISING Dave Alexander dave@potatogrower.com Rob Erickson rob.erickson@potatogrower.com GROUP SECRETARY Magdalene Mercado PRODUCTION Janet Chase Jim Donovan Dayne Dingman GRAPHIC ARTIST Angela Hardy MARKETING Robin Black CIRCULATION Yvonne Young Eula Endecott IT DEPARTMENT Chuck Harris Darrin Steffler ACCOUNTING Clayton Ward Laura Rafferty IDAHO GROWER SHIPPER ASSOCIATION Phone: 208-529-4400 www.idahoshippers.com IDAHO POTATO COMMISSION Phone: 208-334-2350 www.idahopotato.com NATIONAL POTATO COUNCIL Phone: 202-682-9456 www.nationalpotatocouncil.org Corporate Offices: HARRIS PUBLISHING INC. 360 B Street Idaho Falls, ID 83402 208-524-7000 Fax 208-522-5241 www.potatogrower.com POTATO GROWERS OF IDAHO Phone: 208-785-1110 www.potatogrowersofidaho.com SOUTHERN IDAHO POTATO COOPERATIVE Phone: 208-234-7472 Email: sidpco@msn.com UNITED POTATO GROWERS OF AMERICA Phone: 801-517-9000 www.unitedpotatosusa.com Printed in Idaho Falls, Idaho by Falls Printing dave@fallsprinting.com UNITED STATES POTATO BOARD Phone: 303-369-7783 www.uspotatoes.com ONE OF THE BLESSINGS OF BEING the editor of Potato Grower magazine is that I have the opportunity to get out of the office every so often to interview people face-to-face for features. I don’t prefer phone interviews, because it’s been my experience that you’re more likely to just get one-word answers when they’re only hearing your voice but you’re nowhere around. Sometimes I don’t have a choice because the person I’m interviewing is nowhere around—they’re in another state—so I make the best of it. So when I have the opportunity to meet with someone and speak to them one-on- one (with a digital recorder on the table, of course, posing as a fly on the wall), I can find out things that most likely wouldn’t have come up over the phone. The articles become more rich with pertinent information rather than general fluff. For this IGSA issue, I was able to sit down and interview George Crapo in his SunGlo office for the Russet Aristocrat article. His office is very spartan, like he doesn’t spend very much time in it because there’s too much work out in the field he needs to do (and would rather be doing). During our conversation, the topic came up of retirement. George is five years past the typical age when Americans retire, but he has no plans to retire—he loves keeping busy. To me, I can’t comprehend not having anything to do. Not only am I the editor of this magazine, which publishes 13 times a year, but I’m also the editor of a turf-industry magazine that publishes four times a year, giving me more deadlines and more irons to put in more fires. (And, of course, more fires to put out!) Besides that, in my church I’ve got a very demanding position that requires me to be away from home just about 4 Potato Grower | AUGUST 2010 every night of the week. And when I am home, I’m trying to help my wife take care of our four small children. Now whenever I hear the b-word (rhymes with “board”), I have to take a deep breath to curtail Bruce Banner morphing into a big green monster. So what is retirement anyway? If you think about it, it’s a foreign concept to most people in non-developed countries. Even in developed countries, it’s only been around for a little over a hundred years. Before that, low life expectancy and the absence of pension arrangements meant that most workers continued to work until death. God Himself decreed to Adam (and to all of us) that from the sweat of our faces would we eat our bread all the days of our lives! We’re kind of spoiled that we’re able to exit the work force when we reach a certain age and have the funds available to help us continue to live our lives until our death beds! But does retirement mean not keeping busy? On the contrary. When you reach retirement age, you’ve gathered a lifetime worth of bankable knowledge and experiences that younger generations haven’t learned yet. If anything, you have a duty to keep busy until you can’t work anymore because the world still needs what you’ve gained. George firmly believes that it’s the getting up every morning and having something to do that keeps a person alive. I’ve heard from countless growers who believe that same way. I have to agree with them, though sometimes I think all these irons are burning my hands. PG EDITORIAL Tyler J. Baum tbaum@potatogrower.com Nancy Sanchez nancy@potatogrower.com Dr. Phil Nolte, UI Potato Specialist pnolte@uidaho.edu Retirement? What’s That? PUBLISHER Jason Harris FROM THE FIELD by Tyler J. Baum, Editor