Potato Grower

WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 31 Additional guiding principles include limiting varieties to six mainstays and keeping each of them as pure as is possible. "Our seed performs well—always," Telford says with a wink. "At least, that's our unending goal." While producing seed potatoes for both fresh and process markets, the Telfords extend their rotations with wheat, dry beans, corn, sugarbeets, and timothy and alfalfa hay. "Keeping our ground refreshed with extended rotations, we see as vital to producing clean, high-quality seed," Telford says. "It's been amazing to me to see how the Russet Burbank has hung in there as the fallback variety," he continues. "Rather than people taking potshots at it, perhaps refining cultural practices to maximize its potential would be a better way to go. A new variety is always on the horizon possessing a certain outstanding quality, and I'm open to that. But just think of how many varieties have come and gone while the Burbank stays in there, delivering consistent and dependable quality. "With the expansion of U.S. frozen-process exports and increases in U.S. quickservice potato usage, I see nothing but opportunity on the horizon. Some see GMO as a threat to certain aspects of our business. I don't. I tend to put GMO in its own category. GMO fits where it fits, and is needed where it fits, but, today, it doesn't fit everywhere. Over time, it will find its slot similar to what organic potatoes have done. "The big threat looming over us seed growers, as I see it, is PVY. We've learned to manage most other pathogenic threats, but this one remains a challenge," he continues. "A part that can be easily overlooked by purchasers of our seed is the cost we incur in controlling PVY all along the seed propagation stream; it's not uncommon for some early-generation seed growers to have to throw away 40 percent of the stock they begin with before it can get to the commercial grower. But, really, that's our job—producing clean, high-performance potato seed."

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