In this week’s program we will meet the CEO’s of the National Potato Council and the United States Potato Board. I met both of these guys while covering the Potato Expo last week for my first time. Let’s start our with John Keeling, CEO of the National Potato Council. We focused on potato policy issues which as you might guess …
Expanding @NufarmUS Portfolio
Nufarm is the eighth largest crop protection company in the world and just keeps getting bigger while not changing its stripes. At the 2016 Potato Expo last week, I talked with Nufarm North America‘s Vice President for Innovations and Regulatory Affairs Rob Schwehr about what’s new at Nufarm. “What we’ve done over the last couple of years is continue our …
Meet New #Potato Council President
Idaho potato farmer Jim Tiede took over as the new president of the National Potato Council last week during the 2016 Potato Expo in Las Vegas. Tiede is a third generation farmer from American Falls, Idaho who is looking forward to focusing on important issues to potato growers in the coming year, including TPP, WOTUS, and transportation. “We’re looking at …
#PotatoExpo is Big Event
Since I had never been to the Potato Expo before I had no idea what to expect so I was surprised to find out what a huge event it really is! Randy Hardy of Idaho is past chairman of the National Potato Board and was one of the co-chairs of the expo. “I was in on the initial thought process …
Bee Buzz at #PotatoExpo
There was a lot of buzz about bees at the 2016 Potato Expo this week in Las Vegas. The National Potato Council announced this week that they are joining the Bayer CropScience Feed a Bee initiative as an official partner committing to enlist America’s potato farmers to help feed bees. Dr. Becky Langer, manager of the North American Bee Care …
Ag Secy Vilsack Talks SOTU, Trade & Climate
USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack held a press call yesterday to discuss President Obama’s last State of the Union (SOTU) address. Vilsack, who has served in the capacity of Ag Secretary throughout Obama’s Administration, was in attendance during the speech. He said he is very proud to have been part of an administration that has basically taken the country from …
NuFarm Working to Tame the Zebra
Chip, the Nufarm zebra has been roaming the rows at the 2016 Potato Expo this week with a goal of educating attendees about new research into fighting zebra chip. Zebra chip is a potato disease vectored by a psyllid, according to Bob Bruss with Nufarm technical services. “This is a problem that’s been slowly growing and has become more of …
#SpudNation Throwdown Competition
One of the main events at the Potato Expo in Las Vegas this week was the first SPUD NATION THROWDOWN COOK-OFF. The live competition featured the top three finalists of a nationwide recipe contest for food truck chefs and the winner was named Top Spud and with a prize of $5000. Congratulations to Bridgett Blough (pictured on the right) from …
2015 Issues for National Potato Council
The outgoing President of the National Potato Council is Dan Lake, Ronan, Montana. I visited with him during Potato Expo to learn what the big issues were in 2015 for the organization. Dan says there were four main issues. One is pollinator health and he says farmers are using technology now that is designed to keep bee health in mind. …
Meet the New @FarmBureau President and VP
A good crowd of ag media reporters stayed to the bitter end of the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Orlando Tuesday evening to hear from the new president and vice president of the organization. Zippy Duvall, who served as president of Georgia Farm Bureau for nine years, is the 12th president of AFBF, chosen in the first open election …