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SPUDSMART.COM INTERNATIONAL EDITION 201518 Growing Potatoes in Argentina Some Canadian and American growers and McCain Foods executives travelled to the South American country to get a first-hand look at its flourishing potato industry. What did they learn BY MARK HALSALL IN TERMS of distance travelled it certainly wasnt your typical field trip a round trip of some 20000 kilometres to the opposite end of the globe. Thats how far a group of 16 Canadian and American growers journeyed to observe how they grow processing potatoes in Argentina. The growers 10 from the province of New Brunswick in Canada and six from the state of Maine in the United States were accompanied by three Canadian and American executives from McCain Foods as they toured Argentinean potato farming and production facilities this past January. The week-long visit took place in the Balcarce region of Argentina the main processing potato growing area of the country thats a five-hour drive or so southeast of Buenos Aires. The group visited farms that supply potatoes for the McCain Argentina plant which produces french fries largely destined for export to Brazil. Finding a location where potatoes are grown in January was one of the reasons for the South American destination. According to Yves Leclerc McCains director of agronomy for North America another compelling reason to visit Argentina was the interesting dynamic that characterizes potato production in that country. MERGED INFLUENCES Theyve got a strong influence from Europe but they also have an influence from North America so you see an area that has kind of merged the two influences in terms of technologies and also varieties and cultural practices says Leclerc who took part in the trip. Joe Brennan a former chair of the both Potatoes New Brunswick and the Canadian Potato Council also participated in the tour and spoke about it at a Canadian growers meeting in Manitoba Canada just after the trip. Brennan talked about Argentinas huge land base for producing potatoes and the good growing conditions in the country where yields are typically in the 500 hundredweight per acre range. The plant stands there were amazing. The cover on the fields was very even and emergence seems to be a lot tighter there and more consistent than ours Brennan said. Brennan commented that what really struck the North American growers was what their Argentinean counterparts are doing on the seed side. I think they are ahead of us on that he noted. Theyre really focused on getting the best quality seed and theyre really doing it well. That focus on the seed is a lesson that we have to keep in mind. Argentinean grower surveying his crop at El Parque Pampas a thriving potato business in the Balcarce region of Argentina. PHOTO EL PARQUE PAPAS.