b'ADVICE FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTSOne More Event For Your Calendar & Why Its Worth Your TimeBILL ORRCanada technical representative1,4GROUP14group.caDID YOU COLLECT an arsenal ofspeed on the latest storage research, sharinginevitable. Storage losses average at least innovative ideas, new contacts and freshbest storage management practices and5% of yield: thats real money that could perspective from this winters many potato yesputting more money into producerbe captured relatively easy via improved events, conferences and meetings? Im a bigpockets through improved storagestorage knowledge and understanding. advocate for the professional developmentpractices.Theres another key factor that supports our industry is getting better and better atMaximizing producer returns isthe idea of a storage-only conference: delivering. Theres one development areathe biggest reason for a storage-onlythe need for proactive moves toward our industry has so far overlooked, however.conference. Potato producers investsustainability. As were seeing in almost Because its one that could generate reallyenormous effort and energy intoevery facet of agriculture, we have the choice significant bottom-line results for potatooptimizing the growing season toto either choose change or have it forced producers, we at 1,4GROUP are pushing tomaximize crop yield and quality. Onceupon us by a public and government that build it into its very own conference. Sincetheir spuds hit the bin, however, manydont necessarily understand the realities Im a potato storage guy, you probably wontproducers shift from proactive, intensive,of production. A storage-only conference be shocked to hear that what were hopingintentional crop management to passive,would give opportunity to coordinate to spearhead is a potato storage-specificreactive management. Spuds treated toand collaborate so we can choose our path conference. Heres why you should geteffective management, well-constructedforward on sustainability. behind the idea too. and maintained infrastructure, andI (maybe unrealistically) would love to Ive been pitching the idea of a storage- the proper use of the right storagesee a storage conference held next year. only conference during all sorts of meetingsenhancement products should maintain1,4GROUP is willing to ring-lead, but itll with potato industry folks. So far, everyonefield-fresh quality right through to shippingtake a groundswell of enthusiasm from across Ive talked to has been keen on the concept,and beyond. Yet, many producers acceptthe industry to make it happen. Are you in? expressing interest in getting more up-to- a certain percentage of shrink or loss asDrop me a line at [email protected]. It Takes Both Faith and Science to Grow a PotatoARON DERBIDGE president of HZPC Americas Corp.hzpc.com A COLLEAGUE AND I were talkinghigh level of service. This enables us to focusvacuum. We identify those traits with our recently, and she mentioned how much hopeon providing our growers with agronomicpartners, our growers and our marketers. We and faith goes into potato farming. Faithadvice, helping with market access, andcombine market and agronomic vision to can have different definitions, and in thisensuring we guide our breeding programunderstand what challenges we might face in case, she didnt mean religious faith. Sheto meet end market needs now and into thethe future. We have faith that were all in this meant having deep trust. Its true. Faith isfuture. together. essential in everything farmers do. Faith inBreeding is absolutely a game of faith. WeUltimately, it all comes down to one more Mother Nature, faith in your team, faith inproduce 800,000 true potato seeds (TPS)important level of faith: our consumers your production capabilities, faith in yourevery single year in our breeding program.level of faith in the excellent end-product. land, faith in your marketer, and faith inWe used to take them all out and plant themOur consumer and foodservice outreach your buyer all need to come together forin the field to see if they performed well.program, Potato Glory, and our new Pick a successful season. And for us at HZPC,It takes a lot of faith that there is a betterthe Perfect PotatoTM app, demystify potato we want to ensure you have faith that ourvariety out there to put in that effort. Nowselection for any application. varieties performance will help your farmwere bolstering our faith with advancedWe understand the faith required to operation be successful.science. Weve added genetic marker assistedtake on a new crop year. We are incredibly Faith is bigger than ever for us, as wereselection on all 800,000 true potato seeds.honored that you place your faith in us, our transitioning away from direct sales of ourWe can verify the presence of desired traitsvarieties, and our network of seed dealers. seed. We have faith in our seed dealers tobefore we take them to the field. We are committed to always being worthy of work with our customers and maintain aWe dont identify desired traits in athat faith.30SPUDSMART.COMSpring 2024'