The Potato Association of America (PAA) on Monday officially welcomed about 250 potato researchers, agronomists, processors, growers and more to Portland, Oregon for PAA’s 108th Annual Meeting. Following last year’s successful Annual Conference in Charlottetown, PEI, this year’s event organizers had a high bar to meet… which delegates overwhelmingly report they’ve successfully achieved.
The four-day Annual Meeting offers the opportunity to connect with others in the potato sector to share knowledge, consider research and technology developments, and build networks and relationships. It’s a deep dive into the science of North America (and beyond)’s potato production, with concurrent sessions on physiology; extension, production and management; breeding and genetics, and protection. Though the event draws more researchers than growers, those growers in attendance will go home with key management take-aways and a whole lot of valuable connections.
Here’s a look into the conference so far….
This year’s event is being held at the beautiful Nines hotel in downtown Portland. The opening symposium, moderated by Gaia Consulting’s Darin Gibson, featured five speakers digging into key pest and disease issues including beet leafhopper, PVY, insect vectors of potato disease, potato mop-top virus, and more.
Opening SymposiumPAA executive director Michael Fraley and PAA event manager Kiran-Durae Barkey have looked calm, cool and collected throughout the event despite the huge number of details they’ve needed to successfully coordinate for this year’s conference.
Sunday night’s opening reception was a relaxed opportunity to meet friends, colleagues, researchers and and international experts, including Brazil’s Dr. Jose Alberto Caram Souza-Dias (who spoke Tuesday about the potato sprouts’ potential as a seed tuber alternative), and Ecuador’s Dr. Carmen Castillo Carrillo (who was the keynote speaker on Tuesday, presenting about South America’s fight with potato purple top).
Monday afternoon, much of Tuesday and into Wednesday featured concurrent short (15 to 30-minute) presentations by a wide variety of scientists, grad students and agronomists.
One of the brand new components of the Annual Meeting this year was the first meeting of a Women Potato Research group. Networking and sharing of ideas is a critical component of the annual PAA event, and this group allows another opportunity to connect with passionate, skilled colleagues.
Once again, a highlight of the PAA schedule was Tuesday night’s dinner and fundraiser auction. The most noteworthy contribution to the auction was this year’s potato-themed quilt, made (once again!) by quilter and long-time supporter Carol Halseth.
All proceeds from the PAA auction will be donated to the Frank L. Haynes Endowment Fund, which helps support the attendance of students at PAA’s annual meeting. Last year, the auction raised $9,565. This year, the auction raised $14,400, thanks to enthusiastic participation from attendees and the highly entertaining auctioneering by Bill Buhrig (senior faculty research assistant at the Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station).
If you’re attending the PAA Annual Meeting and would like to grab a coffee with Spud Smart’s director of content, Madeleine Baerg, reach out via email to [email protected]. She’s always keen to chat spuds!
