Summaries
of stories appearing in this issue.
 May/June 2007 |
Mel Martin - His
Many Contributions to the Columbia Basin Potato Processing Industry
When Mel Martin, Moses Lake, Wash., fi rst began his career in the Columbia
Basin potato processing industry in 1966, it was a whole different world
than what you see now. The only variety relied on for processing was Russet
Burbank and the potatoes used were No. 2s picked up from area fresh sheds.
Instead of year-round, as it is now, the processing season was limited
to the brief span between the end of August and the fi rst of March. By
then the potatoes were tangled in sprouts and difficult to get out of
the storage, let alone be used for making high quality french-fries.
Major Impact
Few people have had more of a positive impact on the development of the
Columbia Basin processed potato industry than Martin, who currently serves
as manager of raw product development, Columbia Basin, for J.R. Simplot
Co. His infl uence for positive change can be seen in everything from
the varieties grown today to systems used to monitor tare, contract incentives
offered growers, harvesting and storage recommendations, plant wastewater
management and more.
Born with an inquisitive nature, Martin is a champion of change and has
always been a proponent of finding a “better way” to do everything,
from the types of equipment used
to the varieties grown for processing. When things are working, he wants
to know why; and if there is a failure, his search continues until he
understands the reasons. ...
Colorado's Cultivars Under Federal
Plant Variety Protection
Colorado’s cultivar development program has been very active the
last decade in releasing and protecting a wide range of successful cultivars.
Colorado was among the
fi rst to structure a program aimed at utilizing clones from their cultivar
development program through the use of Federal plant variety protection
(PVPA) and a cooperating
partner. This program began in 1997, one year after potatoes were included
in the Federal PVPA. Colorado State University, as the original owner
of the cultivars, developed
a Memorandum of Understanding with the Colorado Certifi ed Potato Growers’
Association, Inc. (CCPGA) to transfer ownership of the advanced clones.
In return, the
growers’ organization agreed to acquire protection through PVP, develop
marketing and distribution plans for each of the clones and collect royalties
assessed against seed sales.
Over the past several years, Colorado’s program has been refi ned
and communicated to other regions. Growers from throughout the U.S. and
Canada are able to petition to
become participants on any cultivar that is owned by the CCPGA. If accepted
as a participant, the grower pays a $500-per-cultivar annual fee for processing
and to defray
general costs of running the program. Additionally, the participant submits
a marketing plan to defi ne how he will handle the stocks, his market
region and future intentions
with the cultivar. Finally, the participant agrees to pay an assessed
royalty calculated against gross seed sales (at present equal to 4 percent
of sales) which is collected at the
end of each shipping season. The ultimate CCPGA objective is to have in
place the by region, to maximize sales and minimize problems with each
cultivar. Each participant
is afforded full rights within the program and treated in a manner similar
to any seed grower in Colorado, regardless of their location.
At the present time, over 65 growers representing 13 states and three
provinces are participants with Colorado cultivars. This wide acceptance
and the successful growth of the listed cultivars bodes well for the future
of protected cultivars in North America and should help potato growers
remain profi table well into the future.
...
Maximizing
the Nutritional Content of Potatoes
As the most eaten vegetable in the United States, potatoes can be a valuable
source of vitamins and phytonutrients in the diet and are already known
to be a good source of vitamins and minerals such as potassium and Vitamin
C. Potato is the only tuber amongst all the world’s major food crops,
most of which are grains or roots.
We believe that research can lead to even further increases in the amounts
of vitamins and phytonutrients that potatoes contain. One of the approaches
we are using is to take advantage of the considerable genetic diversity
that exists amongst potato germplasm. Potato may have the most genetic
diversity of any crop, with over 200 wild species existing in nature,
growing in extremely varied environments ranging from humid jungle to
arid mountain highlands. Some have estimated that only about 1 percent
of the total
genetic diversity available is actually used in domesticated potatoes.
This means that superior genes for many traits likely exist amongst the
pool of available potato germplasm.
For example genes that give superior nutritional value, pest resistance,
drought tolerance etc; the problem is how do we find these genes?
If we compared different potato varieties, just how different would they be in the amounts of vitamins and phytonutrients they contain? What are the most abundant potential health-promoting compounds in potatoes? We measured several vitamins and many phytonutrients in numerous cultivars and wild potato species to begin to answer these questions. In addition to identifying existing varieties that are nutritionally superior, germplasm mining can also discover novel phytonutrients and identify phytonutrient-rich primitive germplasm that can be used to breed nutritionally enhanced potatoes. Answering these types of questions is a fi rst step towards producing potatoes that have the highest possible amounts of phytonutrients....
An
Interview with the WSPC's Director of Trade
As the director of trade for the Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC),
Matt Harris is deeply submerged in the daily challenge of maintaining
and expanding trading opportunities for the Washington potato industry.
He works closely with representatives from other organizations, such as
the National Potato Council, U.S. Potato Board and government agencies
involved in helping resolve trade barriers.
A Typical Day’s Activities
A typical day may begin with a phone call from a grower alerting him that
a load of potatoes has been denied entry into a certain country and asking
him to check into what can be done.
From that point, it’s a matter of contacting the network of individuals,
already in place, and evaluating the situation. Is it an issue that can
be quickly resolved, or is it a case of a new trade barrier being put
in place, requiring another round of trade negotiations before help can
be provided?
“Is it a commercial issue or has the buyer, perhaps, taken exception
with the quality of the potatoes being exported?” Harris asks, noting
that it is his job to help find out.
“Perhaps it’s a phytosanitary issue or the need to register
a new crop protectant. It also may be that the customer is not satisfi
ed with the quality of the load.”
Harris’ day may also be spent preparing to attend different national
venues, such as the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, where
close to 80,000 foodservice representatives generally attend each year.
“Whether we are talking about large Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs)
or smaller family owned businesses – these are the type of buyers
who walk through the show – we want to make sure the WSPC is well
represented and that people know that they can always buy quality french-fries
from Washington state,” Harris says. “So, in our booth, we will
prepare and serve processed french-fries, sourced out of Washington.....
Processors
Help USPB Promote Dehydrated Spuds
Once a year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) host a conference in Kansas City,
Mo., dedicated to U.S. government international food aid programs.
The 2007 International Food Aid Conference (IFAC) had 696 registered participants
from all aspects of the food aid community, including Private Voluntary
Organizations (PVOs) that receive and distribute the food; companies that
produce some of the more specialized foods used in food aid programs;
commodity organizations, such as the USPB (representing growers); steamship
lines and others involved in transportation; countries receiving the food;
the many agencies of USDA and USAID involved in programming and purchasing
the food; the World Food Program, the United Nations agency involved in
food aid distribution; and, of course, the myriad of contractors assisting
with this process.
For the fi rst time, processors joined the USPB in representing the U.S.
potato industry. Jon Schodde of Idaho Pacifi c, Art Polson and RJ Andrus
of Idaho Supreme and Julian
Awdry of RDO Foods attended the conference to learn about food aid and,
more importantly, promote dehydrated potatoes. USPB was represented by
Virgil Slagell, Oklahoma
grower and co-chair of the International Marketing Committee, staff members
John Toaspern and Dinah Tobey as well as Evalyn Carbrey, a nutritionist.
World Hunger Remains Prevalent
Despite huge gains made in agricultural production over the past 30 years,
there are still over 850 million people worldwide hungry and under nourished.
According to the
UN World Food Program, 25,000 people die every day from malnutrition.
The U.S. government provides over half of the world’s total food
aid assistance, with $1.5 billion going
to U.S. government-operated programs and a cash contribution of $1.2 billion
to the World Food Program.