Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/407782
6 Potato Grower | NOVEMBER 2014 Published 13 times a year by Harris Publishing Inc. Subscriptions: U.S. and Possessions $24.00 per year, International $120.00 per year. Copyright 2014 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 VICE PRESIDENT Greg Larsen 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 Western Turf G R O W E R POTATO May 2009 - $3.95 - Serving The National Potato Industry - www.potatogrower.com G R O W E R POTATO G R O W E R POTATO May 2009 - $3.95 - Serving The National Potato Industry - www.potatogrower.com G R O W E R POTATO G R O W E R POTATO May 2009 - $3.95 - Serving The National Potato Industry - www.potatogrower.com FOUNDED BY Darryl Harris Corporate Offices: HARRIS PUBLISHING INC. 360 B Street Idaho Falls, ID 83402 208-524-7000 Fax 208-522-5241 www.potatogrower.com PUBLISHER Jason Harris MANAGING EDITOR Steve Smede steve@potatogrower.com EDITOR Tyrell Marchant tyrell@potatogrower.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Allen Thayer allen@potatogrower.com TECHNICAL EDITOR Dr. Phil Nolte, UI Potato Specialist pnolte@uidaho.edu ADVERTISING Dave Alexander dave@potatogrower.com Rob Erickson rob.erickson@potatogrower.com GROUP SECRETARY Magdalene Mercado PRODUCTION Janet Chase Jim Donovan GRAPHIC ARTISTS April Frederick Lavon Horne Del Moss CIRCULATION Yvonne Young IT DEPARTMENT Chuck Harris ACCOUNTING Clayton Ward Barbara Morotini 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 POTATO GROWERS OF IDAHO Phone: 208-785-1110 www.thepgi.com SOUTHERN IDAHO POTATO COOPERATIVE Phone: 208-234-7472 Email: sidpco@msn.com UNITED POTATO GROWERS OF AMERICA Phone: 801-266-5050 www.unitedpotatosusa.com UNITED STATES POTATO BOARD Phone: 303-369-7783 www.uspotatoes.com Printed in Idaho Falls, ID by Falls Printing dave@fallsprinting.com I'm No Superman BETWEEN THE ROWS by Tyrell Marchant, Editor MODERN TECHNOLOGY, as I assume most of you have long since concluded, is both a blessing and a curse. At no time does this statement ring more true that when battling one's addiction to everybody's favorite website, Netflix. Netflix has made possible the dream of mindlessly relaxing with a bowl of popcorn in front of your TV or computer screen's iridescent glow without having to drive to the video store only to find that every last copy of The Hunger Games is in some other joker's DVD player. Miraculously (and oddly unfortunately), it is now possible to catch an episode of your favorite sitcom of yesteryear, whether it be 30 Rock or Cheers or The Andy Griffith Show. This past summer, my wife and daughter spent a couple weeks away visiting family, leaving me home all by my lonesome. Rather than using my quiet evenings to be productive amid my isolation, I sought solace in Netflix. I came across a show, Scrubs, I had watched a few episodes of early in my college career and remembered liking. I clicked on an episode somewhere in Season 4, and I was hooked. The show is a sitcom based on the goings-on at fictional Sacred Heart Hospital. It features clever writing, memorable and relatable characters, a healthy dose of drama, and fantastic physical comedy. And for those two weeks home alone at nights, I ate it up. As much as I hate to admit it, I actually came to care what happened to J.D., Elliot, Turk, Carla, Dr. Cox and The Janitor. I devoured four and a half seasons of Scrubs in 14 days. (In case you're wondering, the eastern Idaho chapter of Netflixaholics Anonymous holds meetings at my place every other Thursday.) Technically, Scrubs ran for nine seasons, but any devotee of the show will tell you the real last season was Season 8. Like the best sitcom finales, the concluding episode of Scrubs' eighth season—appropriately named "My Finale"—wrapped up all the right loose ends while leaving just enough questions unanswered to allow for hope for the characters' futures. It was the perfect ending. Only somebody got greedy. I don't know if writers or network executives or someone else is to blame, but a ninth season aired with a new setting and new main characters. Some of the old characters played ancillary roles, but Scrubs Season 9 has, correctly, been widely panned as one of TV comedy's all-time biggest flops. My point? It's easy to get excited and jump the gun when you've got a good thing going. Potato growers enjoyed near-record prices in 2013, only to see those prices in many potato- producing areas take a nosedive during 2014. The reason appears to be that the industry failed to match supply with demand. "Greedy's good for business," a grower once told me. "But there's a little moderation that's got to go into it." United's Jerry Wright observes in his column this month that "farm-gate price for a hundredweight of potatoes responds only minimally to any other influence than keen supply management." Now, I don't mean to insinuate that potato growers are greedy or incompetent. In my experience, they are quite the opposite. Market fluctuations like this have happened in the past, and they're bound to happen in the future, just as good sitcoms will hang on a season or two too long and sabotage their own legacies. Pointing the finger of blame solves none of that. Scrubs could've been remembered for an all-time great finale in the annals of TV sitcom history. It choked. With new foreign markets and domestic niches opening up all the time, the potato sector has an opportunity to be a leader in taking American agriculture to heretofore unmatched heights. Let's not mess it up. PG Greed's proper role in prosperity