1701 Badger Common'Tater

Badger Common’Tater

January 2017

THE VOICE OF WISCONSIN'S POTATO & VEGETABLE INDUSTRY

Volume 69 Number 1 $18.00/year $1.50/copy

WPVGA INDUSTRY SHOW , TRUCKS & EQUIPMENT ISSUE GROWER EDUCATION Conference Preview POTATOES ARE PERFECT Fit for Healthy Meal Plan SAUERKRAUT COMPANY Keeps Reinventing Itself TWO UNIVERSITIES Combat Nematodes U.S. Coast Guard members, from left to right, Lee Biladeau, Paul Wiedenhoeft, Brad Fitzpatrick and Nicholas Vlasak pose in front of the Spudmobile.

INTERVIEW:

John Kotek

V&H Inc. Trucks

Roberts Irrigation • www.robertsirrigationWI.com 1500 Post Road • Plover WI 54467

2022 W. 22nd Avenue • Bloomer WI 54724

(715) 344-4747

(715) 568-4600

Chris Fleming Chris Lockery Paul Katz

Inventory • Replenishment Services • Handle all freight concerns • Long-Range Planning •

Transportation: Ted Kowalski

Mitch Bushman Maria Yenter • Bob Dobbe John Hopfensperger • John Eckendorf Jerome Bushman (FL - WI) Mike Gatz, Jim Stefan and Chris Fleming (Milwaukee) Sam Saccullo (All fruits and vegetables) Mike Whyte (Michigan) Mike Carter CEO

800-826-0200 715-677-453 3 • Fax: 715-677-4076 R o s h o l t ,

W i s c o n s i n

Badger Common'Tater

On the Cover: Scheduled for a flyover of Lambeau Field in an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter on December 11, the Coast Guard crew was grounded due to weather, but still enjoyed a Spudmobile tour. From left to right are Lee Biladeau, a flight mechanic, Paul Wiedenhoeft and Brad Fitzpatrick, rescue swimmers, and Nicholas Vlasak, helicopter pilot.

8 Badger cOMMON’TATER INTERVIEW: John Kotek

John Kotek, general sales manager for V&H Inc. Trucks, says, “It all starts on the farm.” He explains that 30-40 percent of the Marshfield and Madison, Wisconsin heavy truck business is related to the agricultural industry and that he’s worked with farm cooperatives, small businesses and individual farmers, always looking to solve a need and help increase their bottom line.

Departments: ALI’S KITCHEN................... 65 AUXILIARY NEWS.............. 36 EYES ON ASSOCIATES....... 47

16

18

MAKE POTATOES PART OF YOUR HEALTHY DIET

GLK FOODS PRODUCES TONS OF TASTY KRAUT

The spud is a low-calorie, non-processed vegetable

WI sauerkraut company diversifies and expands

24 MARKETPLACE The Spudmobile caters to fans and a few soldiers at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field

Feature Articles: 30 SPEAKERS LINED UP: 2017 Grower Education Conference & Industry Show 38 TWO UNIVERSITIES/TWO WAYS to square off against nematodes 52 BADGER BEAT: 2016 year-end weed, disease and insect updates 4

BC�T January

MARK YOUR CALENDAR..... 6 NEW PRODUCTS............... 49 now news...................... 42 NPC NEWS........................ 64 PEOPLE ............................ 62 PLANTING IDEAS................ 6 POTATOES USA NEWS...... 60 WPIB FOCUS .................... 46

DESIGN-BUILD GENERAL CONTRACTOR AGRICULTURE. FOOD PROCESSING.

Hansen-Rice, Inc. incorporates the use of a highly trained team of architects, engineers, designers, estimators and project managers during the Design-Build process to create a system that is unique in the Agricultural and Food Processing construction industry.

www.hansen-rice.com

WPVGA Board of Directors: President: Mark Finnessy Vice President: Eric Schroeder Secretary: Gary Wysocki Treasurer: Josh Mattek Directors: Steve Diercks, Rod Gumz, Ron Krueger, Wes Meddaugh & Andy Wallendal Wisconsin Potato Industry Board: President: Heidi Alsum-Randall Vice President: Richard Okray Secretary: Bill Wysocki Treasurer: Keith Wolter Directors: John Bobek, Cliff Gagas, John T. Schroeder, Tom Wild & Andy Diercks WPVGA Associate Division Board of Directors: President: Wayne Solinsky Vice President: Zach Mykisen

Wisconsin Seed Potato Improvement Association Board of Directors: President: Eric Schroeder Vice President: Bill Guenthner Secretary/Treasurer: Jeff Fassbender Directors: Dan Kakes & Charlie Mattek

WPVGA Staff Executive Director: Tamas Houlihan Managing Editor: Joe Kertzman Director of Promotions & Consumer Education: Dana Rady Financial Officer: Karen Rasmussen Executive Assistant: Julie Braun Program Assistant: Danielle Sorano Coordinator of Community Relations: Jim Zdroik Spudmobile Assistant: Doug Foemmel

Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary Board of Directors: President: Paula Houlihan Vice President: Ali Carter Secretary/Treasurer: Gabrielle Okray Eck Directors: Kathy Bartsch, Deniell Bula, Marie Reid & Jody Baginski

WPVGA Office (715) 623-7683 • FAX: (715) 623-3176 E-mail: wpvga@wisconsinpotatoes.com Website: www.wisconsinpotatoes.com Like Us On Facebook: www.facebook.com/WPVGA

Secretary: Cathy Schommer Treasurer: Casey Kedrowski Directors: Dale Bowe, Nick Laudenbach, Sally Suprise & Joel Zalewski

Mission Statement of the WPVGA: “To assist WPVGA members to be successful through education, information, environmentally sound research, promotion, governmental action, and involvement.”

Mission Statement of the WPVGA Associate Division: “Our mission is to work in partnership with the WPVGA as product and service providers to promote mutual industry viability by integrating technology and information resources.”

Badger Common’Tater is published monthly at 700 Fifth Avenue, Antigo, Wisconsin 54409

Subscription rates: $1.50/copy, $18.00/year; $30/2 years.

Foreign subscription rates: $30/year; $50/2 years.

Telephone: (715) 623-7683 Mailing address: P.O. Box 327, Antigo, Wisconsin 54409 Or, subscribe free online: http://wisconsinpotatoes.com/blog-news/subscribe/ ADVERTISING: To advertise your service or product in this magazine, call (715) 630-6213, or email: Joe Kertzman: jkertzman@wisconsinpotatoes.com.

The editor welcomes manuscripts and pictures but accepts no responsibility for such material while in our hands.

BC�T January

5

Mark Your

Calendar January 2017 10-12 WISCONSIN AGRIBUSINESS CLASSIC Alliant Energy Center Madison, WI 25 ANNUAL SEED MEETING

NorthStar Lanes

Antigo, WI

FEBRUARY

7-9 WPVGA GROWER EDUCATION CONFERENCE & INDUSTRY SHOW Holiday Inn, Stevens Point, WI 13-16 POTATO DC FLY-IN The Mayflower Hotel Washington, DC 22 NPPGA (NORTHERN PLAINS POTATO GROWERS ASSOCATION) ANNUAL MEETING, BANQUET AND RESEARCH REPORTING CONFERENCE Grand Forks, ND 22-23 INTERNATIONAL CROP EXPO Grand Forks, ND

march

13-15 MIDWEST FOODSERVICE EXPO Wisconsin Center Milwaukee, WI 13-16 POTATOES USA ANNUAL MEETING Marriott City Center Denver, CO 28-30 WPS FARM SHOW (57th ANNUAL) EAA Grounds, 1001 Waukau Ave. Oshkosh, WI

june

17 FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN MOBILEPACK EVENT Noel Hangar Stevens Point, WI 23 SPUD SEED CLASSIC

WSPIA GOLF OUTING

Bass Lake Golf Course

Deerbrook, WI

Contact Karen Rasmussen,

krasmussen@wisconsinpotatoes.com

or 715-623-7683 to reserve space and/or

sponsor the event

july

12 ASSOCIATE DIV. PUTT-TATO OPEN GOLF OUTING Lake Arrowhead Golf Course Nekoosa, WI 17-18 PMANA (POTATO MARKETING ASSOC. OF NORTH AMERICA) MEETING Wisconsin Dells 20 HARS FIELD DAY Hancock, WI 27 ANTIGO FIELD DAY Langlade County Airport Antigo, WI

august

3-13 WISCONSIN STATE FAIR Milwaukee, WI

Planting Ideas

Photo courtesy of Doug Foemmel

Sometimes things happen for a reason, and such

was the case on a cold, wintry Wisconsin Sunday on December 11, 2016.

But let me back up. The Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) Promotions Committee sends the Spudmobile to Lambeau Field for select Green Bay Packers home games, where driver and Coordinator of Community Relations, Jim Zdroik, and Spudmobile Assistant, Doug Foemmel, open it up to Packers fans for tours.

For the Packers/Seahawks game, Rockman’s Catering of Plover, Wisconsin, sent along large batches of Southwestern potato soup that volunteers and staff handed out in 4-ounce sample cups. Wanting to help out and be supportive, my wife, Tricia (shown above with Jim), and daughter, Cora, volunteered weeks ahead of time to travel to Green Bay with me.

Then the weather turned frightful, and before we knew it, we were driving through a blizzard on our way to Green Bay. I sensed apprehension on the part of my wife during that hours-long drive, and maybe even a little resentment. But we were needed. Other volunteers had either come down with the flu or were smart enough not to travel through the snow, and when we arrived, we were put right to work pouring soup into cups and handing it out. Tricia even shoveled snow from around the Spudmobile.

As we handed out samples to the enthusiastic crowd, four U.S. Coast Guard members happened by and toured the Spudmobile. They were gracious enough to allow me to take some candid photographs of them, and seemed to have a genuinely good time. I had been worried about a cover photo for the January 2017 issue of the Badger Common’Tater, because I really hadn’t come across a quality shot that spoke not only to our grower and associate member readers, but also to the spirit of the holidays.

Little did I know at the time, those four soldiers were slotted to do a helicopter flyover high above Lambeau Field that day, but because of the weather, they had been grounded. Instead, they toured the Spudmobile, attended the game and were introduced at halftime to a standing ovation.

Ah, there was my cover shot! And a nice story to tell over the holidays.

Please email me with your thoughts and questions. If you wish to be notified when our free online magazine is available monthly, here is the subscriber link: http://wisconsinpotatoes.com/blog-news/subscribe.

Joe Kertzman Managing Editor jkertzman@wisconsinpotatoes.com

Schroeder Bros. Farms, Inc. WISCONSIN “ONLY THE BEST” CERTIFIED SEED POTATOES REDS

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Interview

John Kotek, V&H Inc. Trucks

By Joe Kertzman, Managing Editor

NAME: John Kotek TITLE: Local sales manager, Madison, WI COMPANY: V&H Inc. Trucks LOCATION: Madison HOMETOWN: Beaver Dam, WI

One of the largest dealers of Western Star trucks in the country,

V&H Inc. Trucks not only sells high-quality heavy truck equipment and products, but also helps ensure the vehicles stay in top running order through service specialists.

In June 1966, Warner VonHozen and Floyd Hamus purchased V&H, Inc. from the Felker Family. The business was a Ford Lincoln Mercury car and light truck franchise and a Ford duty truck franchise.

YEARS IN PRESENT POSITION: 2 PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: New and used heavy truck sales for 30 years SCHOOLING: Two-year associate degree in industrial marketing FAMILY: Married with a son, daughter, two step-sons (all out of the house) and one granddaughter ACTIVITIES/HOBBIES: Packers football, motorcycles, travel and working around the house Top: A Western Star truck, purchased from V&H Inc. Trucks and outfitted with a Spudnik bulk bed and attached E-Z Tarp, is loaded with potatoes during harvest at Heartland Farms.

Photo courtesy of Brian Wysocki Left: John Kotek, general manager, V&H Inc. Trucks 8

BC�T January

In the late 1970’s, a full line Chrysler franchise was added to the dealership. From the beginning, the two owners felt that the growth part of the dealership would be in the heavy truck market.

Along with selling trucks, the dealership had the idea of selling a complete package unit to the customer. This would be the right truck chassis with the proper equipment for the applicable job at hand, mounted and ready for work.

V&H first entered the logging market by offering customers complete packages—trucks, cranes, log racks, and training and service after the sale. Units of this type were sold throughout Wisconsin and Michigan,

and V&H controlled the logging market.

This concept led to markets like milk hauling, dump trucks, city delivery trucks and many other vocational markets.

Today, V&H Trucks boasts locations in Marshfield, Prentice and Madison, Wisconsin; Kansas City, Kansas; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

WALLBOARD TO RAILROAD Currently in addition to heavy trucks and equipment, the company specializes in wallboard cranes and truck-mounted concrete, pre-cast concrete and recovery cranes. V&H has also developed a strong presence in the railroad market and specialty

truck rental business.

When a unit is delivered, V&H Trucks offers complete classes in its Marshfield training center on preventative maintenance, giving customers a better understanding of how to communicate with their own service shops.

Web casts are used to help customers with preventative maintenance, safety, driver training and to review V&H’s third-party billing programs.

With a nationwide business, showing product and demonstrations on the Web has proved to be a helpful sales tool.

V&H has trained service associates throughout the United States to maintain equipment and two fulltime engineers on staff to assist in the manufacturing operation.

Each manufacturing job includes a complete set of detailed drawings and a parts list that accompany the vehicle with delivery.

The company also offers 24-hour-aday technical support departments to help customers with their concerns.

This support can be anything from helping find service for a unit to helping an outside shop diagnose the problem.

V&H has a 24-hour complete parts department with all replacement

parts in stock for fast delivery nationwide for equipment sold.

Above: V&H Inc. Trucks offers nice used trucks such as this 2001 Sterling LT9513 set up with a new Meyer 8124 forage box.

I see V&H Inc. Trucks has been in business for more than 50 years.

In what location was the company founded, and what type(s) of trucks were sold at that time? Can you give me a little history lesson? The business got its start in Marshfield as Ford Truck and Auto. We now are a Western Star truck dealer (no autos or pickups), and V&H Auto is the Light Duty Ford dealer.

progressed over the years? What types of heavy trucks and equipment does V&H specialize in and how has that evolved? We now have five locations in Marshfield, Prentice and Madison, Wisconsin, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Kansas City, Kansas. V&H Trucks is one of the largest Western Star truck dealers in North America, boasting a huge

How has the company expanded and

continued on pg. 10

COMPANIES

BC�T January

9

Interview. . . continued from pg. 9

inventory of used trucks, including all makes and models.

The company also specializes in everything from manufacturing and building material handling, to wallboard, railroad, logging and many custom truck applications to suit our customer needs. That includes wheelbase modifications and a fullservice body shop.

Do different locations specialize in certain types of heavy trucks and equipment? Explain. Yes. Marshfield handles new and used truck sales, parts, service, a body shop, towing, and building and install of material handling trucks. The Marshfield location is open 24 hours a day in parts and service to accommodate our customers.

Prentice also has new and used truck sales, a parts and service department, and manufacturing for logging and railroad trucks. Charlotte specializes in used truck sales, parts and service, and in manufacturing material handling trucks.

Kansas City builds railroad trucks, and has parts and service. And the Madison location offers new and used truck sales, truck repair, custom hydraulic hose makeup, an extensive parts inventory, custom truck accessories, triangle spring and complete U-bolt inventories, overnight crane parts delivery, and a parts and service department that is open until 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, and until 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

How about in the Central Sands area and northcentral Wisconsin? We

specialize in used heavy axle, long wheelbase trucks. If we don’t have it, we will find it.

Approximately what percentage of the overall business out of your Marshfield location is to the agriculture sector? Madison?

Elsewhere? In our Marshfield and Madison locations, I would say 30-40 percent of our local business in truck sales, parts and service is related to the ag industry.

Is agriculture an important part of your business and why or why not?

Absolutely, the ag industry is a very important part of our business. “It all starts at the farm.”

How did you get involved in the agricultural end of the truck sales business, John, and do you have an ag background? I have worked with farm cooperatives, small businesses and individual farmers, always looking to solve a need and offer suggestions to increase their bottom line. continued on pg. 12 Above: An entire fleet of Western Star trucks from V&H Inc. Trucks is lined up at Heartland Farms. Photo courtesy of Brian Wysocki Bottom: The V&H Madison location offers new and used truck sales, truck repair, custom hydraulic hose makeup, an extensive parts inventory, custom truck accessories, triangle spring and complete U-bolt inventories, overnight crane parts delivery, and a parts and service department.

10 BC�T January

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Interview. . . continued from pg. 10

Sometimes buying the least expensive truck is not the best longterm solution. When setting up a truck, it’s best to make sure the specs are correct to do all the things you want it to do.

What is your relationship like with growers and those in the ag industry? Any anecdotes about dealing with the farmers? I believe we have good relationships with growers and everyone in the ag industry. The relationships are built around communication, keeping informed of the changing needs and what is needed to stay competitive.

As a salesman, if you ask, “What can I do to help with your truck needs?” you will get an answer, and it’s up to us to follow up.

Do you enjoy working with growers and why or why not? I enjoy working with growers. Their needs and logistics have changed from the size of the trucks and equipment, from single-axle trucks up to quad-axle trucks and even tractor trailers.

You need to move as much as you can to be efficient in this competitive industry, which in turn makes the difference in your profits.

Do you also work with implement dealers? We work with several vendors and equipment dealers to keep up with what is new in the industry and offer up possible

12 BC�T January

solutions to meet our customer needs.

V&H Inc. Trucks is an associate member of the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Assoc., and your company has a booth at the Grower Education Conference and Industry Show? Why are those two things important to V&H Inc., and what type of relationship do you hope to have with growers and associates in the potato and vegetable growing industry? Keep V&H Heavy Truck in mind when you are looking for new or used trucks. We have a very knowledgeable sales staff that offers

not only information, but also training to keep you up to date with changes that could help with your operation and continued success.

How are agriculture truck needs different from trucking needs in other industries that you are Above: The brand new 2017 Western Star 4700SB day cab tractor from V&H Trucks is ready to hit the road running.

Bottom Left: The black and silver 2003 Sterling LT9513 quad axle is an example of V&H Trucks outfitting a used truck with a custom 24-foot multi-purpose body.

Bottom Right: The new Western Star 4700SB has a Logan bulk bed and an E-Z Tarp.

involved in servicing? It seems the trend is going to automatic transmissions and heavy front and rear axles. It is hard for everyone to find drivers, and automatics are much preferred.

Are the vehicle/truck needs of the growers changing, and if so, how? Everything is getting bigger to become more efficient. Today hauling 24 tons versus 10 tons is the normal.

We try to keep our customers in touch with what is changing in the “truck world,” be it specs, engines, emissions or on-board computers, and driver training is always changing.

Do growers ask you to custom build or adapt trucks to specific needs and how? We work with you, our customer, our shops and vendors to build the truck you want, offering Right: John Kotek, general sales manager for V&H Inc. Trucks, is ready to step up into the shiny red Western Star 4700SF day cab tractor. continued on pg. 14

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Interview. . . continued from pg. 13

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up ideas to make it the best truck you can buy.

What do you hope for as far as a relationship with growers in the future? To continue working together to ensure success both now and into the future.

How do you see the ag/truck / implement industry changing in the future? Is every farm going to have unmanned, self-driving tractors and trucks? I can only imagine the changes that are coming in all our futures, some driven by government regulations, competitors and our own visions of remaining the most efficient and profitable we can be.

Above: John Kotek (right) treated WPVGA Director of Promotions, Communication and Consumer Education Dana Rady’s son, Griffin, to a turn behind the wheel of a big Western Star rig.

The truck was parked at the Gagas barn during a United of Wisconsin harvest party. V&H Inc. Trucks sponsored the meal at the event.

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Potatoes Are A Natural Health Food Low-calorie, non-processed vegetables, potatoes fit into any healthy meal plan

By Sarah Agena, MS, RD – Consulting Dietician for the WPVGA Some Americans have the misconception that potatoes are bad and avoid them at all cost. I hear it daily that people don’t eat potatoes because they are avoiding carbohydrates in order lose weight.

Potatoes are a great low-calorie, non-processed vegetable that can fit into any healthy meal plan, breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.

Potatoes are only 110 calories for a 5.3-ounce serving, an excellent source of Vitamin C, a good source

of potassium and Vitamin B6, are a complex carbohydrate and are fatfree, cholesterol-free, sodium-free and gluten-free!

What more can you ask for in a single food item? It’s what we top our potatoes with and how we prepare them that determines how healthy they are for us.

Whether it’s a russet, red, white, yellow, purple, fingerling or petite potato, all are equally nutritious and healthy. One medium potato with

Above: A consulting dietician for the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA), Sarah Agena (center) is all smiles while Mad Dog (right) pours healthy, grilled, yellow Parmesan potatoes onto her plate and Jim Zdroik (left) holds bunny ears over her head. The potatoes were served from the Spudmobile outside of Lambeau Field on November 6.

Left: The healthy mashed potato recipe from www.eatingwell.com (link in the last paragraph of this feature story) uses reduced-fat sour cream instead of butter and cream, zesty horseradish and fresh parsley. Photo courtesy of www.eatingwell.com 16 BC�T January

skin provides 620 milligrams or 18 percent of the recommended daily value of potassium per serving and is considered one of the best foods containing potassium.

Skin-on potatoes rank highest for foods with potassium and contain more potassium than a banana, which we usually consider as a good source of potassium. Most importantly, consuming food items high in potassium has shown to decrease blood pressure in people with hypertension.

Most Americans don’t get the recommended 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day, and consuming a serving of potatoes helps us get closer to that goal.

DON’T TOSS THE SKINS Potatoes with the skin on are also a good source of dietary fiber—another nutrient most Americans don’t get enough of—providing about 2 grams per serving. Fiber helps create a feeling of fullness that may aid in weight loss, helps at lowering blood cholesterol levels and can decrease the risk of heart disease, so don’t toss the skins.

When we think of Vitamin C, we think of oranges and other citrus fruits. Potatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin C, providing about 45 percent of our daily needs per day. Benefits of Vitamin C include protection against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease and even skin wrinkling.

When it comes to the carbohydrate content of potatoes, the American Diabetes Association concludes that the total amount of carbohydrates in meals and snacks, rather than the type, is more important in determining the blood sugar or glycemic response.

A 5.3-ounce serving of potatoes provides less than two carbohydrate servings, which is well within the appropriate amount per meal.

FUEL PERFORMANCE Many athletes understand the health benefits of potatoes and use potatoes to help fuel performance and aid in recovery. A good source of potassium, potatoes can help replenish lost potassium stores due to heavy sweating and help prevent muscle cramps.

Potatoes are also an excellent source of complex carbohydrates that help replenish glycogen stores after an extended exercise session.

Healthy ways to prepare potatoes include baking, mashing, roasting, grilling or microwaving. All these cooking options are ways to prepare a potato with no added fat or salt that we already get enough of in other food items.

In fact, baked potatoes make a quick and easy meal or snack. Healthy toppings include salsa, low-fat plain Greek yogurt, low-fat cheeses, onions, chives, black olives, broccoli, lean ground beef or fresh herbs like cilantro, rosemary and thyme.

Above: The Food and Drug Administration Nutrition Facts label for a potato lists percentages of Recommended Daily Values of many nutrients, including fiber, calcium, iron, potassium, Vitamin C and Vitamin B6.

For recipe ideas, check out www. eatwisconsinpotatoes.com.

And for a healthy way to prepare mashed potatoes, visit: http://www. eatingwell.com/recipe/250855/ horseradish-parsley-sour-creammashed-potatoes/.

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Sauerkraut Company Reinvents Itself in the 21st Century GLK Foods diversifies with product aimed at attracting and keeping new customers

By Kathy Gibbons, Vegetable Growers News correspondent The following is reprinted with permission from Vegetable Growers News and Produce Processing magazines.

Sauerkraut may not be sexy, but it’s got staying power. GLK Foods is proof of that. The company set out to corner the sauerkraut market when it made the strategic choice to grow and become a leader in the segment starting about 20 years ago.

Today, the 116-year-old company is thriving, not only producing more sauerkraut than in all of western Europe, according to company literature, but also diversifying with new products aimed at attracting and

THIS IS

MORE

THAN A

BUILDING.

+ 18 BC�T January

keeping new customers.

in taking over the plant.

“Other people are interested in, say, sexier products than kraut,” says Chairman of the Board Ryan A. Downs. “We’re focused on innovations in the kraut industry.”

In the late 1990s, GLK formed a joint venture with a kraut operation in upstate Shortsville, New York, while purchasing and consolidating production from multiple plants into the Wisconsin and New York locations.

GLK is an evolution of Flanagan Brothers, a company that began four generations ago in Bear Creek, Wisconsin. It was founded by— surprise—the Flanagan brothers, who were grandfather and great uncle to Downs, now 72.

He can remember growing up working around the company, though he went off to college and other jobs before coming back to join his cousin

EFFICIENT OPERATION “I think we bought and closed 17 plants in Wisconsin and New York,” Downs says. “We just felt if we consolidated into a couple of larger, efficient operations, we would become more efficient and dominate the kraut industry.”

Along the way, Downs also bought his cousin out. Today, his son, Ryan M. Downs, 39, is president and majority owner and in charge of day-to-day operations.

Headquartered in Appleton, Above/Opposite Page: From cabbage field to cabbage pad, the sheer volume of cabbage and sauerkraut that GLK Foods processes and produces—between the New York and Wisconsin operations, processing approximately 140,000 tons of raw cabbage grown on family farms—is impressive. Images courtesy of Food Manufacturing

Wisconsin, Great Lakes Kraut Co. was renamed GLK Foods in 2010 to reflect the company’s mission to diversify beyond sauerkraut.

“We were pretty dominant in the category of sauerkraut, and I just thought, with our distribution, it was an opportunity to grow into other niche product lines,” explains the younger Downs. “We have such an advantage because we have performed for years now, we have the trust and it’s easy for me to pitch new ideas.

“We’re having some really nice successes with things that are adjacent to kraut, but not kraut,” he adds.

Besides traditional sauerkraut, GLK was the first to offer a 100 percent organic sauerkraut, its Cortland Valley Organic brand. A new line of flavored krauts, Saverne, comes in sriracha, curtido, dill and garlic, and Bavarian and craft beer flavors

(SaverneProducts.com).

A BRAT WITH KRAUT

Its OH SNAP! pickles are packaged in stand-up snack pouches and aimed at the snacking crowd. The product line was recently extended with pickled green beans and carrots (OhSnapPickles.com).

On the marketing side, GLK continues to explore innovative ways to get its products in front of new audiences— Green Bay Packers fans attending games at Lambeau Field among them.

“They’re catching on a lot in C-stores and specialty markets,” the older Downs relates, while his son exclaims, “We’re just getting warmed up.”

With about 140 full-time employees between the New York and Wisconsin operations, the company annually processes approximately 140,000 tons of raw cabbage grown on family farms.

The entire system is automated. continued on pg. 20

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Sauerkraut. . . continued from pg. 19

“The seeds are planted automatically, the cabbage harvested by machine, and then, in the plant, it isn’t touched at all,” Downs says. “We use a machine to shred and grade and discard the unusable parts of the cabbage.”

In the old days, the kraut was hauled manually, by cart, to the edge of a vat and dumped in. People inside the vats would sprinkle salt and smooth the cabbage so it was level.

Today, it’s pumped into stainless steel

vats that can range from 100 tons to 900 tons. It’s salted and fermented before it goes into a package, jar or can, and then into a cooler or unrefrigerated storage, depending on the product.

“The pump is gentle, so it doesn’t harm the product at all,” Downs remarks, explaining that the system was implemented in 2004, replacing one that required shoveling hundreds of tons of shredded cabbage a day by hand. “It eliminated probably 10 of

Above: Sauerkraut is packaged via large automated can and jar lines at GLK Foods. Images courtesy of Food Manufacturing Opposite Page: After cabbage is sent via conveyor belts to large cutting blades, high-speed, automated shredding and sorting equipment takes over, utilizing state-of-the-art lasers and color sorters. The resulting shredded cabbage is salted and then conveyed into vat rooms. Images courtesy of Food Manufacturing

the most tedious jobs in the plant.”

It also increased productivity by about 30 percent, because the product never runs out.

Cabbage & Sauerkraut Production

By Amanda J. Gevens, UW-Madison associate professor and Extension plant pathologist In Wisconsin, cabbage is transplanted in May and harvested from August through November. After harvest, cabbage heads are washed and shredded.

Historically, production of cabbage for kraut was concentrated in Kenosha County of southeastern Wisconsin.

Today, the seat of production for about 2,200 acres of kraut cabbage is in east central Wisconsin, primarily in Outagamie County.

To produce kraut, shredded cabbage is mixed with salt and tightly packed into huge revolutionary stainless steel or fiberglass-lined vats to ferment.

20 BC�T January

At GLK Foods, the largest vats are 25 feet deep with a 32-foot diameter.

The average vat holds about 225,000 heads of cabbage, or 900 tons. During fermentation by lactobacilli, airborne bacteria that naturally occur on fresh cabbage leaves from the field, lactic acid is created. This is what gives sauerkraut its unique flavor and texture.

After approximately six weeks, fermentation is complete and the sauerkraut is ready for packaging, which is carried out in-house in Bear Creek, Wisconsin.

Each year, GLK Foods processes approximately 140 million pounds of raw cabbage (at 5-22 lb./head this is 12 million heads of cabbage!) and is currently the world’s largest producer of sauerkraut, exceeding all of western Europe combined.

The Wisconsin plant provides economic benefit to the state in various ways and recently contracted with in-state firms to expand its facility. (www.glkfoods.com) On a fun side note, the average American consumes 1.5 pounds of kraut a year, while Germans nearly triple this amount.

NEW PRODUCT R&D GLK has a research and development team dedicated to evaluating and acting quickly on new product ideas. “We have meetings every two weeks, and there’s probably 10 to 12 different projects on the list right

now,” said the younger Downs. “The whole idea is to get these ideas out there quickly and try and figure out which ones will work.”

Just launching is a line of roasted chickpeas in multiple flavors under the GoBitos brand name (GoBitos.

com). “It delivers the flavor profile of chips, but in a much healthier format,” he says. “The salty snack that people crave, but low in fat, gluten free, high in fiber, high in protein—we think we have a real opportunity there.” continued on pg. 22

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Sauerkraut. . . continued from pg. 21

Above/Right: Sauerkraut tanks come in two varieties at GLK Foods—stainless and fiberglass. Images courtesy of Food Manufacturing

Justin Gillette, business development manager for Dot Foods, a nationwide food redistributor, says GLK stands out for its innovative approach to product development.

“They do a nice job finding new applications for sauerkraut and niches to get into,” Gillette explains, noting that his company’s sales of GLK products have increased about 15 percent annually in the last two years. “They try to think outside of

the box, not just as a kraut company, but looking for new areas to expand into.”

And the fact that fermented foods are making a comeback in a big way is not lost on GLK either. Earlier last year, sauerkraut was cited for being among the top fermented foods that help establish “a healthy gut” at onegreenplanet.org.

The older Downs recalls a time in the 1970s when there were many more

sauerkraut processors in the game, many of them complaining because of a steady decline in sauerkraut sales. That’s not the world he knows now.

“What we’ve done is come up with a lot of different flavors—it’s more artisanal—and of course, fermented foods have become such a popular item,” he says. “We’ve more than stabilized and are on the rebound.”

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By Dana Rady, WPVGA Director of Promotions and Consumer Education

Trig’s Rhinelander Wins Potatoes Display Contest On November 28, 2016, the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson motorcycle decked out in Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes logos found its home in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, and specifically, at Trig’s in Rhinelander, after the retail store won the 2016 Wisconsin Potatoes Display Contest.

The WPVGA Promotions Committee put on the contest during the state’s Potatopalooza month in October as a way of encouraging retail stores and consumers to engage in a Buy Local effort.

Promotions Committee members presented the motorcycle to Trig’s

at the Rhinelander store on South Courtney Street on the afternoon of November 28.

The all-encompassing effort Trig’s put into its promotion and communication of Wisconsin potatoes easily made it a number 1 choice in winning the contest. Besides Above: The 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson proudly sports the Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes logo at Trig’s in Rhinelander, the winner of WPVGA’s Wisconsin Potatoes Display Contest. Pictured from left to right in the back row are: Doug Foemmel, WPVGA Spudmobile Assistant; Paula Houlihan, President of the Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary; Tamas Houlihan, WPVGA Executive Director; Chris Brooks, WPVGA Promotions Committee Chairman; Jim Zdroik, WPVGA Coordinator of Community Relations; Mark Maloney, Branch Manager at Russ Davis Wholesale; Ryan Briske , Commodity Buyer at Russ Davis Wholesale; Andy White, Sales at Russ Davis Wholesale; Scott Meinhardt, Retail Development at Russ Davis Wholesale; Dana Rady, WPVGA Director of Promotions; Ken Cloutier, Executive Vice President and CFO of Trig’s; Bob Jaskolski, President of Trig’s; and, sitting on the Harley, Don Theisen, Store Director of Trig’s in Rhinelander.

Left: WPVGA Promotions Committee Chairman Chris Brooks (right) gives Don Theisen, Rhinelander Trig’s Store Director, keys to the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson that is Powered

by Wisconsin Potatoes. Trig’s in Rhinelander is the first place winner in the Wisconsin Potatoes Display Contest put on by the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association.

24 BC�T January

designing a display in the produce department, they used various point of purchase materials from their Wisconsin potato supplier and invited the Wisconsin Spudmobile to make an appearance.

They handed out healthy potato dish recipes to customers, held a coloring contest for kids and provided visitors with free samples of unique potato dishes that even included potato cake.

In addition, Trig’s put up a Wisconsin potatoes banner outside, made “Buy Local Buy Wisconsin” t-shirts for their staff to wear, and held a drawing to award one lucky person with a free grill as long as they walked through the Spudmobile during its visit.

Above: Rhinelander Trig’s Store Director Don Theisen (left) and his wife, Carrie (right), pose with WPVGA’s mascot, Spudly, at the presentation of the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson to Trig’s in Rhinelander on November 28.

PROMOTING BUY LOCAL It’s one thing to build a display, but when you also understand the importance of buying local and promoting Wisconsin farmers to the public, that’s a huge accomplishment that resonates throughout a community and reaps nothing but benefits.

“We are ecstatic about winning the Harley,” says Don Theisen, store director of the Rhinelander Trig’s.

The most popular varieties of these world-class hybrids are going fast.

“Winning something like this for doing something we love is amazing!

Supporting Wisconsin potatoes and Left: Trig’s created a miniature version of the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson motorcycle, complete with Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes logos, and placed it on top of a bouquet made solely of different potato varieties. Trig’s put this bouquet on display at the giveaway event on November 28.

Right: WPVGA’s mascot, Spudly, sits one last time on the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson that is Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes at the giveaway event. continued on pg. 26

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Marketplace. . . continued from pg. 25

local produce has been a big part of who I am since starting my career as a produce clerk in 1988.”

“Working with Wisconsin farmers for me is supporting family,” Theisen adds. “It has also been a good business decision. Quality Wisconsin produce is what our customers want, and supporting locally grown has increased our sales and profits.

Supporting locally grown is and will continue to be a large part of Trig’s growth plan.”

That’s a sentiment that WPVGA Promotions Committee Chairman Chris Brooks says came through loud and clear when selecting the winner.

“The WPVGA Promotions Committee was pleased to see the amount of interest and dedication shown by many grocers in 2016’s Wisconsin Potatoes Display Contest. Trig’s stood out from the crowd with its imagination and promotion of Wisconsin potatoes,” Brooks says.

“We are honored and fortunate to

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Above Left: The Spudmobile sits proudly outside of Trig’s in Rhinelander on November 28 during the presentation of the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson to the store as the winner of the Wisconsin Potatoes Display Contest during the state’s Potatopalooza event in the month of October.

Above: Members of the WPVGA Promotions Committee and Auxiliary proudly give the 2015 Fat Bob Harley-Davidson to Trig’s in Rhinelander on November 28. Pictured from left to right: Dana Rady, WPVGA Promotions Director; Paula Houlihan, President of the Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary; Andy Diercks, Promotions Committee member and potato farmer in Coloma, Wisconsin; Tamas Houlihan, WPVGA Executive Director; and Spudly, WPVGA’s mascot.

have such a valuable partner to work with and reward this year.”

To commemorate the giveaway event on November 28, Trig’s provided pasta dishes made with potato flour, twice-baked petite potatoes and red velvet cupcakes made with red potatoes. They also created a bouquet made of different potato varieties and created an exact miniature replica of the 2015 Harley-Davidson, complete with the Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes logo, and placed it on top of the bouquet for display at the giveaway event.

Between now and May 6, Trig’s will be holding a silent auction for the Harley with all proceeds going to local charities.

26 BC�T January

WPVGA Adjusts 2017 Food Safety Training Offerings Changes are once again occurring in the food safety realm with new requirements under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and consequently, the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) is adjusting the training classes that will be offered in 2017 to accommodate.

Details around two new rules have come to light in recent months that correlate with the FDA FSMA. They are Produce Safety and Preventive Controls.

PRODUCE SAFETY ALLIANCE (PSA) To shed light on each, “the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) is a collaboration between Cornell University, FDA and USDA to prepare fresh produce growers to meet

the regulatory requirements” that are part of FSMA, according to the Produce Safety Alliance website, www.producesafetyalliance.cornell. edu.

The Produce Safety rule sets “standards for growing, harvesting, packing and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption,” according to the Food and Drug Administration’s website, www.fda.gov.

It has five key requirements: • Agricultural Water • Biological Soil Amendments • Sprouts (preventing contamination of) • Domesticated Wild Animals • Worker Training and Health and Hygiene

For further details on the Produce Safety rule, please visit: http:// producesafetyalliance.cornell. edu/ or http://www.fda.gov/ Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ ucm334114.htm. Please note that, according to the FDA’s site, potatoes are listed as an exempt commodity under the Produce Safety rule. This said, the WPVGA will still be offering this class to growers who don’t pack or wash as a means of helping the industry stay proactive.

FOOD SAFETY PREVENTIVE CONTROLS ALLIANCE (FSPCA) According to the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) is “intended to ensure safe continued on pg. 28

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manufacturing/processing, packing and holding of food products for human consumption in the United States” (https://www.ifsh.iit.edu/ fspca/fspca-preventive-controlshuman-food).

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• Required for anyone in the industry who packs or washes

It’s important to understand that HACCP is a component of Preventive HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Controls, but one does not replace Control Point) the other. Both are needed for the • 2 days (same person must attend completion of a successful food both 2 days to receive certificate) Cone Tanks: 70 Gallons to 12,000 Gallons Vertical Tanks: 16 Gallons to 16,000 Gallons The above-mentioned site also safety audit. The final deadline for •

R equired for anyone in the industry • Tanks come standard with total drain bolted fitting • UV“the inhibitors molded in for longer tank life goes on to say that regulation FSPCA to be implemented is January washes spot packs for total or drainage • Conical bottom with flatwho • Easy to read molded in gallonage indicators requires that certain activities 2018.

• 18” lid is standard on all large tanks • 2” or 3” outlets available on larger tanks If you are interested in attending must be completed by a preventive • Molded in tie down lugs • Siphon tubes to help with drainage To follow is the list of classes that any of the above classes or have controls qualified• individual who has • UV inhibitors molded in for longer tank life 18” lid is standard on all large WPVGA tanks will be offering in 2017. questions, please contact Dana successfully completed training in the • Engineered welded steel stand available • Molded in tie down lugs for securing tanks Rady at 715-623-7683 or drady@ Produce Safety development and• 3application of risk• 3 - Year warranty from date of shipment - Year warranty from date of shipment wisconsinpotatoes.com. Stay tuned based preventive controls.”

Don’t forget to pick up •your Pumps, fittings, 1 day (duration = 8accessories hours to and hose from Ag Systems. to WPVGA’s weekly newsletter, Tater www.agsystemsonline.com complete training) While potatoes are exempt under Talk, for updates regarding 2017 Food the Produce Safety rule, they are not • Suggested for any grower, especially Safety training. exempt under Preventive Controls. those who only grow Dates, locations and fees for each Therefore, anyone in the potato Preventive Controls class will be determined once the industry who packs or washes must number of attendees in each class attend the Preventive Controls class, • 2.5 days (same person must attend in addition to having an up-to-date all 2.5 days to receive certificate) is established.

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Coast Guard Visits Spudmobile at Lambeau Field Among thousands of visitors to the Spudmobile, including those who just passed by on their way into Lambeau Field for the Packers/Seahawks game on Sunday, December 11, were some special guests—four U.S. Coast Guard members (featured on this issue’s cover) supported by Air Station Traverse City, Michigan.

As part of the WPVGA Promotions Committee schedule of events, the Spudmobile makes frequent visits to Lambeau Field each year during Green Bay Packers home games to reach out to fans and community and promote homegrown Wisconsin potatoes.

Spudmobile volunteers and staff handed out 4-ounce samples of Southwestern potato soup to visitors and passersby. Nicholas Vlasak, a Coast Guard helicopter pilot, Lee Biladeau, a flight mechanic, and Brad Fitzpatrick and Paul Wiedenhoeft, rescue swimmers, stopped by for some soup, to tour the Spudmobile and pose for pictures.

The Coast Guard crew was scheduled for a pregame flyover high above Lambeau Field in an MH-65D Dolphin Helicopter, but was grounded because of inclement weather—a typical Wisconsin blizzard blowing across the state.

Instead, the four Coast Guard members enjoyed their visit to the Spudmobile and were still introduced to a standing ovation at halftime of the Packers/Seahawks game.

Other notable visitors to the Spudmobile on December 11 were a family from Tokyo, Japan, there to see the game, a second family from Barcelona, Spain, and a group of fans

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Above: The mood was jovial when four U.S. Coast Guard members visited the Spudmobile at Lambeau Field on Sunday, December 11, with WPVGA Coordinator of Community Relations Jim Zdroik kneeling down in respect before the soldiers. From left to right standing and smiling at Jim’s antics are Lee Biladeau, a Coast Guard flight mechanic, Paul Wiedenhoeft and Brad Fitzpatrick, rescue swimmers, and Nicholas Vlasak, helicopter pilot.

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Grower Education Conference & Industry Show Covers Hot Topics Presenters are lined up and a schedule set for the main event of the UW Extension and WPVGA Mark your calendars for February 7-9, 2017 and register today

to attend the 68th UW Extension and Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) Grower Education Conference & Industry Show at the Holiday Inn in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Growers attending the conference will have the opportunity to get a head start on the season with expert market outlooks, research reports, information on new technologies and agribusiness advice.

Groundwater issues continue to be a hot topic in 2017, and presentations cover water resources in the Central Sands area of Wisconsin, connections between geology and groundwater, water stewardship through targeted conservation planning and more.

Research topics and presentations include everything from pesticides to soil, disease, nutrients, fertilizers, crop fertility, remote sensing, potato breeding, varieties, seed handling, fungicides, genetics, weed management, irrigation, delayed emergence, and the list goes on.

The conference will feature an excellent slate of speakers and is a great place for growers to get the advice, tips and insights that will give them the edge they need in today’s tough business climate.

The conference’s annual Industry Banquet is the premier social event in the Wisconsin potato industry with great food and beverages, camaraderie and good times!

In addition to the annual industry awards, there will be drawings for cash prizes, with $2,000 to be given away and over 15 individual cash prize winners (must be present after the awards banquet and during the evening’s entertainment to win).

Back by popular demand, Piano Fondue, a dynamic and interactive dueling piano group, will be performing at the banquet following the awards ceremony.

30 BC�T January

Registration Form by visiting: www. wisconsinpotatoes.com/admin/ wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ Registration-Form-Individual2017-fillable.pdf and return it with payment to WPVGA, PO Box 327, Antigo, WI 54409.

If more than one person from the same company is attending, please use the Group Registration Form (www.wisconsinpotatoes. com/admin/wp-content/ uploads/2016/09/Registration-FormGroup-2017-fillable.pdf). If you have questions, please contact the WPVGA Office at (715) 623-7683.

RESERVE YOUR ROOM NOW There is a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center reserved for conference and show attendees. The room rate is $99 for a single or double room.

To reserve your room and take advantage of this rate, visit www. wisconsinpotatoes.com/events/2017grower-education-conferenceindustry-show/ and scroll down to the Holiday Inn Booking Link.

For those who prefer to make reservations over the phone, please call 715-344-0200, press 3 and reference the group name Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association or refer to group block code WPV. The room block will expire on January 27.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATIONS

Make plans now to attend this valuable event. Please note that Conference registration rates will increase after January 20, so register today!

To register, for the conference, please complete the Individual

CONFERENCE PROGRAM SESSIONS & SCHEDULE:

2017 UW Extension & WPVGA Grower Education Conference Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center, Stevens Point, WI General Session - Moderator T. Houlihan Expo 1 and 2

Time 7:30 - 8:20

Registration

8:20 - 8:30

Welcome and opening remarks - Tamas Houlihan, Executive Director, Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, Antigo, WI

8:30 - 9:00

Water Resources in the Central Sands: Balancing Supply and Demand for Today and Tomorrow - Elizabeth Stapleton / Jim Drought, Hydrogeologist, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., Waukesha, WI

9:00 - 9:30

Towards developing potato varieties resistant to necrotic viruses - Walter DeJong , Professor, Cornell University, NY

9:30 - 10:30

Morning Break - Visit Exhibit Hall/Poster Session

10:30 - 11:00

Connections between geology and groundwater in the Central Sands of Wisconsin - David Hart, Program Leader, Hydrogeologist, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Madison, WI

11:00-11:30

Groundwater Issues in Wisconsin - Russ Rasmussen, Deputy Administrator, Division of Water, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI

11:30-12:00

Frontiers in the remote sensing of agriculture - Phil Townsend, Professor, University of Wisconsin Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Madison, WI

12:00 - 1:15

Lunch: Legislative Update - (1) Ron Kuehn, DeWitt Ross & Stevens, (2) Feeding America Update

Breakout Sessions

Expo 1 Water Quality Moderator - R. Groves

Expo 2 Water and Natural Resource Conservation - Moderator - K. Schroeder

Sands/Spruce Soil Microbial Ecology and Plant Health - Moderator K. Williams

1:30 - 1:50

Russ Groves & Ben Bradford Pesticide detections in central WI groundwater

Robert Smail Water stewardship through targeted conservation planning

Jose Pablo Dundore Managing soil microbiomes post-fumigation to enhance potato health and yields

1:50 - 2:10

Chuck Bolte - Reducing phosphorus runoff on the Antigo flats

Mallika Nocco - Estimating crop ET at different spatiotemporal scales

Ann MacGuidwin - Life in the rhizosphere: the nematode perspective and implications for managing root health

2:10 - 2:30

Stan Senger - Results summary of targeted well sampling

Paul Mitchell - Economic impact of irrigated agriculture in Wisconsin

Richard Lankau Eco-epidemiology of common scab infection

2:30 - 3:30

Afternoon Break - Visit Exhibit Hall/Poster Session

Breakout Sessions

Expo 1 Nutrient Management Moderator - M. Ruark

3:30 - 3:50

Judy Derricks - Nutrient management and other practices relating to soil health

3:50 - 4:10

Matt Ruark - How nitrogen fertilizer recommendations for potato are made

4:10 - 4:30

AJ Bussan - Comprehensive look at potato crop fertility

4:30 - 8:00

Expo 2 Remote Sensing and Imaging Technologies - Moderator P. Bethke Shelley Jansky, Paul Bethke and Felix Navarro Remote Sensing: tools of the trade. Remote Sensing: current and future applications.

Remote Sensing - Panel Discussion: Where do we go from here?

Sands/Spruce Variety Improvement Moderator - J. Endelman Maria Caraza - Using image analysis to quantify skin set and color in red potatoes Walter DeJong - What's new from the Cornell potato breeding program Jeff Endelman - Advanced selections from the UW potato breeding program

Wisconsin Seed Potato Improvement Association and WPVGA Associate Division Reception BC�T January 31

2017 UW Extension & WPVGA Grower Education Conference Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center, Stevens Point, WI General Session - Moderator T. Houlihan Expo 1 and 2

Time 8:00 - 8:30

Potatoes USA - Ross Johnson, Global Marketing Manager

8:30 - 9:00

Potatoes USA Board Industry Update - Blair Richardson, Chief Executive Officer, Potatoes USA

9:00 - 9:30

Tracking Dickeya in North America - Gary Secor, Professor, North Dakota State University

9:30 - 10:30

Morning Break - Visit Exhibit Hall/Poster Session

10:30 - 11:00

Wetlands and water management in agricultural landscapes - Tracy Hames, Executive Director, Wisconsin Wetlands Association, Madison, WI

11:00 - 11:30

Germplasm development for diploid potato breeding - David Douches, Professor, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

11:30- 12:00

Overview and update of Wisconsin’s high capacity well application process - Adam Freihoefer, Section Chief, Div. of Environmental Management, Water Use Section Madison, WI

12:00 - 1:15

Lunch: (1) John Keeling, NPC, and (2) Industry Appreciation Awards

Breakout Sessions

Expo 1 Potato Disease Updates Moderator A. Gevens

Expo 2 Market Development and Food Safety Moderator D. Rady

Sands/Spruce Wisconsin Muck Meeting Moderator K. Williams

1:30 - 2:00

Madhu Jamallamudi, Agrometrics, “How to use and benefit from the new potato grade slip reports system.”

1:30 - 1:50

Amanda Gevens - Updates on late blight findings and management

Dana Rady & Deana Knuteson Healthy Grown Program: updates for 2017

1:50 - 2:10

Brooke Babler - Dickeya diagnostics: examining conventional PCR tests

Paul Zedler - Conservation in agricultural landscapes

2:10 - 2:30

Gary Secor - Seed handing and treatments for decay management

FSMA - Produce Safety and Preventive Controls

2:30 - 3:30 Breakout Sessions 3:30 - 3:50

Sofia Macchiavelli-Giron - Silver scurf control with at-plant and seed-applied fungicides for control of potato diseases

Afternoon Break - Visit Exhibit Hall/Poster Session Expo 1 Expo 2 Sands/Spruce Disease Resistance Bringing Value to Agriculture Wisconsin Muck Meeting Moderator K. Schroeder Moderator Associate Division Moderator K. Williams Dennis Halterman - Using new genetic tools to identify potato resistance genes

3:50 - 4:10

Ana Cristina Fulladolsa - PVY resistance in North American potatoes

4:10 - 4:30

David Douches - Progress in breeding for Late Blight, Scab and PVY resistance

WPVGA Associate Division 5 minute presentations featuring new technologies and approaches in agricultural management of potato and vegetable production systems.

5:15 - 6:00

Social Hour

6:00 - 10:00

WPVGA Associate Division Banquet

32 BC�T January

Lindsey J. du Toit, Washington State University - It takes two to tango: Management of Stemphylium leaf blight and downy mildew in the onion leaf blight complex.

Brian Nault, Cornell University Onion insect pest management update Mike Copas - Re-designing research priorities in muck soil vegetable systems

2017 UW Extension & WPVGA Grower Education Conference Thursday, February 9, 2017 Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center, Stevens Point, WI General Session - Moderator W. Stevenson Expo 1 and 2

Time 8:00 - 8:30

Jeff Endelman, UW Horticulture - Potato breeding and genetics

8:30 - 9:00

Matt Ruark, UW Soil Science - Nitrogen use efficiency in the potato variety Goldrush

9:00 - 9:30

Ann MacGuidwin, UW Plant Pathology - Predicting nematode "hot spots" within fields

9:30 - 10:00

Alex Crockford, WCSP Director - Enhanced disease detection methods and certification

10:00 - 10:15

Morning Break

10:15 - 10:45

Russ Groves, UW Entomology - Evidence for delayed emergence in CPB - management implications

10:45 - 11:15

Jed Colquhoun, UW Horticulture - Weed management and potato desiccation update

11:15 - 11:45

Amanda Gevens, UW Plant Pathology - Unique early blight and brown spot pathogen ecology and management considerations

11:45 - 12:15

Felix Navarro, UW ARS - Performance of new potato varieties under limited N and deficit irrigation

12:15

Adjourn - and Thanks for your Attendance and Participation

1:00

WPVGA Annual Meeting

BC�T January 33

Auxiliary News

By Ali Carter, Vice President, WPGA

One of the community outreach programs and volunteer

opportunities the Auxiliary organizes is the annual Feed My Starving Children MobilePack event in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

We received a wonderful letter from Feed My Starving Children highlighting where the 2016 MobilePack meals shipped to and a story of the work being done through this program. I would like to share this letter with you in the hopes that it warms your heart as it did mine and to show you that the support you offer this event truly makes a difference.

We might never have the chance to look in the eyes of those we help and may never shake the hand of those who deliver what we have packed, but from our little community together we make a very real difference to hurting and hungry people around the world. Here’s the letter: Hi Ali! I am SO excited to be writing to you today and letting you know that your meals have shipped! On 9/19/2016 all the meals packed at your event left our warehouse and are headed to the country of El Salvador with FMSC partner Salvadoran American 36 BC�T January

Above: Feed My Starving Children Development Advisor Dave Gunnlaugsson was touched deeply upon witnessing 14 El Salvador mothers and their children taking a class in the rain, huddled under the roof on the porch of a local home. They were in a cooking class to learn how to combine the MannaPack meal, like the one shown here in an unrelated photo, with local ingredients to add variety, flavor, and extra nutrition and calories.

Below: The chalkboard, from the 2014 Feed My Starving Children MobilePack event in Stevens Point, provided a running tally of the number of meals packed and kids the meals would feed in a year.

Humanitarian Foundation (SAHF).

I had the pleasure of meeting this partner just a couple months ago, and they are doing amazing work in that country. They have an in-country sister foundation called FUSAL, and together they work to bring hope to the people of El Salvador through the implementation of human development programs—feeding programs being one of them.

Our development advisor, Dave Gunnlaugsson, recently spent time in El Salvador with FUSAL and I’m including what he experienced in country.

We Help Them Dream “They can dream of a different life.”

Words I’m quite certain I will never forget. We were driving through the pouring rain in the rural areas of El Salvador outside of the capital city of San Salvador. Majo, or María José, of FUSAL was behind the wheel.

Many of you met her just a few weeks ago when she came to Minnesota to speak at the MobilePack Host Summit. At the summit, she was well-dressed, prepared and a bit nervous. Behind the wheel of a Toyota truck, driving through the rain up a muddy mountain road, she was in her element.

She was taking us to a Nutripunto (which translates to Nutrition Point) to see how they use the FMSC food at one of their many Nutrition Point locations. We arrived in the rain to the scene of 14 mothers and their children huddled under the roof on the porch of a local home. They were in class, a cooking class, to learn how to combine the MannaPack meal with local ingredients to add variety, flavor and extra nutrition and calories.

I paused to take the scene in and was overwhelmed at the beauty of it all.

The mothers were happy, the children looked great, the food smelled incredible. I have been a part of many MannaPack meals at FMSC, from their beginnings to the boxes to the trucks. And yet this was something different. This was a meal being prepared for families to eat together to help children and mothers thrive.

From here, we went to a nearby home as we listened to the local nutritionist who was meeting with a mother oneon-one to help her understand how to better care for her child. He listened to her, encouraged her and helped her to understand the importance of feeding her children well.

As we visited with him, he shared that prior to FMSC meals and the Nutrition Points, the malnutrition rate in this area was at 43 percent, way above the national average of 19 percent in

El Salvador. With great enthusiasm, he also shared that with the help of MannaPack meals, training and monitoring and evaluation, that number had dropped to 10 percent in the months they had been working there.

His joy in sharing was palpable. He was so excited to see the changes that had happened. I spoke with him and thanked him for how real his love was for these families and these children.

These Nutrition Points are happening throughout El Salvador, 246 of them in 18 municipalities reaching over 160,000 people.

This is how Majo spends most of her days, visiting and supporting these Nutrition Points, supporting the staff, taking care of details. She is 26 and had begun a successful marketing career out of college, only to leave it all behind to do something more for the people of El Salvador.

I hope this is encouraging and provides a powerful visual how FMSC food, packed by volunteers, is transforming the lives of children and their families. Over the years, more than 500,000 meals have been packed in Stevens Point and have traveled far and wide to bring hope and dreams across the globe.

As we talked more with her, she too was so excited about this program.

Her excitement came from the blessings that the families receive, saying, “They sit at a table and share family time, peaceful family time. They can dream of a different life; we help them dream.”

While I could share so much more about El Salvador, her heart captured best what our partners are doing in El Salvador. In the midst of gang violence, poverty and many struggles, they are fighting for a different life for many that could so easily lose hope.

Thank you for all you have done. It was such an honor to be a part of the potato event this year and serve together!

With gratitude, Nikki Larson, Senior Event Supervisor Feed My Starving Children

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Two Universities,

Two Ways to Combat Nematodes

Breakthrough for Managing SCN Kansas State researchers may have the answer to controlling the spread of soybean cyst nematodes

By Kacey Birchmier, agronomy and conservation editor, A breakthrough has been discovered for a pest that costs U.S. farmers $1.2 billion annually. Soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) can cause up to 30 percent yield loss in soybeans without visual symptoms, but Kansas State University researchers may have the answer to controlling the spread of the parasitic roundworm.

reduce the efficiency of nitrogen (N) fixation. Above-ground symptoms, which can be seen visually, include yellowing and stunted plants.

These pests live in the soil and invade plant roots, all while robbing the soybeans of nutrients and water, and

After SCN has fed on a soybean plant, it takes just about 48 hours for the nematodes to penetrate the roots.

SCN is known to be present in at least 29 states, as well as South America and Asia. Once the soil is infested, SCN cannot currently be eliminated.

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After about a week, they can rupture through the plant tissue.

Kansas State University plant geneticist, Harold Trick, received a patent for technology that can silence specific genes in the nematode. Researchers found which genes are crucial to the parasite’s survival.

GENE SILENCING New vectors (or DNA molecules) target those genes and shut them off, a process called gene silencing.

The genes that are silenced cause the nematode to die or lose the ability to reproduce. Greenhouse studies have found up to an 85 percent reduction in the nematode population.

“We have created genetically engineered vectors and put those Above: Yellowing and stunted plants are telltale signs of the presence of soybean cyst nematodes (SCN).

into soybeans so that when the nematodes feed on the roots of the soybeans, they ingest these small molecules,” says Trick.

“The next question for us is, with our technology, can we enhance the germplasm that is already available for soybean breeding?” Trick asks.

“We also have several other genes we’ve looked at. Is it possible to

combine all of the traits into one soybean variety and have an even greater reduction than 85 percent?”

While the research had an SCN focus, there are also similarities in the genes selected to other nematodes, such as the root knot nematode, which affects grasses, fruits, vegetables and weeds, Trick says.

The technology will take many years

to reach producers’ fields, he notes.

It’s not a genetically engineered product, so it will need to undergo intense regulatory scrutiny before it can be made commercially available.

“We hope to eventually take the traits we’ve discovered and move those over into Kansas-adapted cultivars so that we can deploy this in farm fields,” he says.

Using Nematodes’ Own Bacteria Against Them An Oregon State University bacteria discovery offers possible new means of controlling crop pest

By Steve Lundeberg, Oregon State University A bacterium common in insects has been discovered in a plant-parasitic roundworm, opening the possibility of a new, environmentally friendly way of controlling the crop-damaging pest.

The worm, Pratylenchus penetrans, is one of the “lesion nematodes”— microscopic animals that deploy their mouths like syringes to extract nutrients from the roots of plants, damaging them in the process.

This nematode uses more than 150 species as hosts, including mint, raspberry, lily and potato. The newly discovered bacterium is a strain in the genus Wolbachia, one of the world’s most widespread endosymbionts, or organisms that live within other organisms.

Wolbachia is present in roughly 60 percent of the globe’s arthropods, among them insects, spiders and crustaceans, and it also lives in nematodes that cause illness in humans.

Postdoctoral scholar Amanda Brown, in the Oregon State University (OSU) Department of Integrative Biology, was the lead author on the study,

and recently accepted an assistant professor position at Texas Tech.

Findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Depending on the host species, Wolbachia can be an obligate mutualist in which the bacteria and the host need each other for survival, or a reproductive parasite that

Above: A microscopic image shows the worm, Pratylenchus penetrans, a lesion nematode that extracts nutrients from roots, including from potato plants.

manipulates the host’s reproductive outcomes in ways that harm the host and benefit the bacteria.

Parasitic Wolbachia can cause its host continued on pg. 40

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Two Universities. . . continued from pg. 39

populations to heavily skew toward female.

OBLIGATE MUTUALISM In the case of the crop-pest nematode Pratylenchus penetrans that Brown and her colleagues studied, the bacteria-host relationship appears to not be one of obligate mutualism. Many examples of non-infected worms have been found, meaning the worm doesn’t rely on Wolbachia to survive.

But more study is needed to determine the exact nature of the relationship, said Dee Denver, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology in the College of Science.

Whatever the relationship, simply discovering Wolbachia in Pratylenchus penetrans opens up the potential for managing the roundworm’s population via biocontrol rather than environmentdamaging fumigants, such as methyl bromide, that are being phased out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We can use what’s already infecting them against them,” Denver said.

Nematode biocontrol would involve releasing Wolbachia-infected worms into farm fields whose worm

populations weren’t infected. From there, a couple of situations, both favorable to the crops, could arise.

The bacterium could hinder the worms’ ability to reproduce, or it might also force the worm to devote energy to dealing with the bacterium, effectively distracting it from being as damaging to the crops as it otherwise would be.

Wolbachia is already being used as a biocontrol strategy in Colombia and Brazil, where infected mosquitoes are being released in an effort to control the Zika, dengue and malaria viruses.

PASSING ON THE BACTERIA Mosquitoes are a vector for those diseases, but Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes pass the bacteria to their offspring, who lose their ability to transmit the diseases. Wolbachia also can interfere with the mosquitoes’ ability to reproduce at all.

“We can see where all of that goes and learn from it to help our decision making on how the strategy might get deployed to control the population of plant-parasitic nematodes,” Denver said. “One big thing with nematodes is the load. Many crops have some, but once you get above certain thresholds, fields go down and there are economic losses.”

In addition to the potential for an environmentally safe way to deal with a crop pest, the research is noteworthy for providing genomic evidence that nematodes, not arthropods, were the original Wolbachia hosts.

The strain that OSU researchers discovered, known as wPpe, proved to be the earliest diverging Wolbachia, meaning the bacteria adapted to arthropods and then later evolved to reinvade nematodes.

“Were they originally reproductive parasites or play-nice mutualists?”

Dee asked hypothetically. “These are outside the range of better-studied Wolbachia, so we don’t know, but we have preliminary data and we think they’re reproductive parasites.”

Another unanswered question: How widespread is Wolbachia among plant-parasitic nematodes?

“There are thousands of nematode species infecting plants,” Denver said.

“Wolbachia has always been thought of as an arthropod thing, an insect thing. It was kind of a serendipitous discovery for us. We were sequencing genomes from nematodes to help in understanding nematodes, and the mapping went to Wolbachia.”

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40 BC�T January

Now News USDA Deregulates Two More Innate Potatoes J.R. Simplot developed second generation Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties The USDA has deregulated the Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties of the second generation of InnateÂŽ biotech potatoes developed by the J.R. Simplot Company. These varieties join the Innate second generation Russet Burbank potato, which was deregulated last year.

The second generation of Innate potatoes contains four beneficial traits of relevance to potato growers, processors and consumers: reduced bruising and black spots; reduced asparagine; protection against the late blight pathogen; and enhanced cold storage capability. These traits

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were achieved by adding only genes from wild and cultivated potatoes.

Research shows that Innate second generation potatoes will further contribute to reducing waste associated with bruise, blight and storage losses by reducing waste at multiple stages of the value chain, including in-field, during storage, processing and in foodservice.

That research suggests that these traits will translate to less land, water and pesticide applications to produce these potatoes.

FUNGICIDE REDUCTION Academics consulted by Simplot, for instance, estimate that the Innate late blight protection trait can result in a 50 percent reduction in fungicide applications annually to control late blight disease, cause of the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century.

Lower asparagine means that accumulation levels of acrylamide can be reduced by up to 90 percent or more when the potatoes are cooked at high temperatures. In addition, lower reducing sugars enable cold storage at 38 degrees Fahrenheit for more than six months without the build-up of sugars, which Above: Developed by the J.R. Simplot Company, the Ranger Russet and Atlantic second generation varieties of InnateÂŽ biotech potatoes show late blight resistance when grown near infected plants.

improves quality.

“The introduction of late blight resistance in Innate varieties is a game changer, one that has the potential to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of potato

growing by reducing pesticide use,” said Neil Gudmestad, University Distinguished Professor & Endowed Chair of Potato Pathology, North Dakota State University.

Simplot is looking forward to the

Senet and Paige Ag Deliver Smart Irrigation Solutions New partnership ensures wireless coverage through wide area networks Senet, the first and fastest growing North American provider of public, low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANs) for long range-based (LoRa®-based) Internet of Things (IoT) applications, announces a

partnership with Paige Ag, a division of Paige Electric Co., LP, and a leading manufacturer and supplier of wire, cables, cable assemblies and electrical accessories, to enable “smart” irrigation in agriculture.

completion of the Environmental Protection Agency registration and Food and Drug Administration consultation before these additional varieties of second generation of Innate® potatoes are initially introduced into the marketplace.

Until now, poor wireless coverage in rural areas has impeded adoption.

Farm land is often isolated from cellular, Bluetooth and WiFi technologies, and where they do exist, cost and complexity of deployment can be prohibitive.

With device connectivity over very long ranges (approximately 15 miles), very long battery power life (circa-10 years) and an extremely low per-device cost, LPWANs and LoRacompatible products are changing the paradigm of farming efficiency continued on pg. 44

continued on pg. 36

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Now News. . . continued from pg. 43

and transforming the way things are monitored and measured.

LPWANs are ideal for gathering data about local agricultural conditions, including weather, soil moisture, chemical compositions of the soil and other environmental conditions at a much lower total cost of ownership.

Furthermore, LPWANs make it possible to expand per-acre coverage and monitor more assets due to the simplicity of deployment and cost of ownership reductions.

USING EMPIRICAL DATA “Senet’s highly scalable and reliable low-power, wide-area network provides a significant opportunity for our agriculture customers looking to use empirical data to improve

operational planning and decision making,” said Julie Bushell, director of sales and marketing for Paige’s Agwire Division.

“Based on market demand and proven use cases, we are initially focusing on delivering LoRa-based irrigation solutions to help our customers capture real economic value from the Internet of Things,” Bushell explains.

“With the rapid evolution of IoT solutions, it’s critical to make the right strategic choices, select the right partners and quickly deliver compelling capabilities to market,” said Will Yapp, vice president of business development for Senet.

“We are extremely pleased that

Above: Paige Ag, a division of Paige Electric Co., is a leading manufacturer or wire, cables, cable assemblies and electrical accessories, such as this large stockpile of agricultural wire.

Paige Electric has selected Senet as their IoT network provider to deliver solutions in the agriculture space.”

With analysts predicting that installations of IoT devices in the agriculture market will increase from 30 million in 2015 to 75 million in 2020, it is no surprise that agriculture equipment and solutions providers are expanding their offerings to deliver additional value to their customers.

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United FCS and AgCountry Farm Credit Services Merge Farm credit association boards vote to recommend merger Providing reliable and consistent credit to agriculture and rural communities has been the mission of AgCountry Farm Credit Services for 100 years.

In an effort to better expand opportunities for member-owners, the Boards of United FCS and AgCountry Farm Credit Services unanimously approved a merger proposal for the two associations at a joint session in Fargo, North Dakota, on November 11. The boards of directors initially agreed to explore a merger of the two associations in June of 2016.

Board Brad Sunderland.

Together, the merged organization will serve nearly 18,000 customermembers throughout 65 counties in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, totaling more than $7 billion in assets.

About AgCountry Farm Credit Services: As a member of the Farm Credit System, AgCountry Farm Credit Services is an independently owned and locally governed lending association that provides credit and financial services to more than 12,000 farmers and ranchers in 18 counties in eastern North Dakota and 25 counties in northwest and west central Minnesota. AgCountry also provides agribusiness loans and leases nationwide.

Offices are maintained in 26 locations throughout the territory, with nearly 400 employees. For additional information on AgCountry FCS, visit www.agcountry.com.

About United FCS: United FCS is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture and the nation’s rural economy. Serving over 6,000 customer-members, United FCS has a primary focus in a 22-county service area in West Central Minnesota and North Central Wisconsin providing loans, leases and a wide array of financial services through 12 branch office locations and 190 locally-based employees.

For additional information on United FCS, visit www.unitedfcs.com. continued on pg. 46

Next steps include a review and approval by AgriBank, the funding bank for the associations, and a regulatory review and approval by the Farm Credit Administration. A stockholder vote in each association is tentatively planned for spring 2017.

The associations are on a projected timeline for a July 1, 2017 merger implementation date.

“This vote shows that our boards feel pursuing the merger is in the best interests of our current and future member-owners, and that merging our associations will position us for greater long-term success,” says AgCountry Chairman of the Board Greg Nelson.

“Moving forward with the merger will strategically position the cooperative to be a relevant source of credit and financial services for farm families, agribusinesses and rural home owners for many years to come,” adds United FCS Chairman of the BC�T January 45

Now News. . . continued from pg. 45

Children’s Discovery Center Holds Spud Spectacular

“S“S Spe pupuddS pecta cular ” ” ctac ular

At the Children’s Disc At th overy Center e Childre (Child Care, 4K, Head n’s Discovery Center Start and Early Head Start (C

hild Care, 4K, Head St center) Novart emberand 17, 2016 Early Head Start cen ter) November 17, 2016

Gagas Farms provides training on baking large quantities of potatoes Samantha Zimmerman, Jill Wilcox and the Children’s Discovery Center of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, would like to extend a big thank you to the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association for putting together and delivering supplies and potato chips for the “Spud Spectacular” event on November 17.

Please also extend our appreciation to Cliff Gagas of Gagas Farms for his training on baking large quantities of potatoes and for use of his potato warmers.

The children had a great time painting with homemade potato stamps, eating chips and baked

potatoes, and putting together, cutting out and coloring Mr. Potato Heads. The brochures and pamphlets came in handy to learn about Wisconsin potatoes.

Above: Judging by the smiles, bibs and at least one messy face, the “Spud Spectacular” event held at the Children’s Discovery Center in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on November 17, was a resounding success.

WPIB Focus

Wisconsin Potato Assessment Collections: Two-Year Comparison

Month

Jul-15

Aug-15

Sep-15

Oct-15

Nov-15

Dec-15

Jan-16

Feb-16

Mar-16

Apr-16

May-16

Jun-16

Year-to-Date

CWT

1,679,466.61

553,089.04

813,734.14

2,731,844.59

3,574,243.15

9,352,377.53

Assessment

$100,717.55

$33,240.32

$48,851.85

$163,910.77

$214,454.02

$561,174.51

Aug-16

Sep-16

Oct-16

Nov-16

Month

Jul-16

Dec-16

Jan-17

Feb-17

Mar-17

Apr-17

May-17

Jun-17

Year-to-Date

CWT

1,596,377.06

706,549.40

1,283,527.92

2,874,985.48

3,531,201.37

9,992,641.23

Assessment

$96,214.65

$46,392.12

$87,862.17

$200,067.53

$246,554.05

$677,090.52

46 BC�T January

Eyes on Associates

By WPVGA Associate Div. President, Wayne Solinsky, Jay-Mar, Inc.

Greetings everyone, I want to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year because by the time you read this, the holiday season will be winding down. I hope all are doing well.

My advice in this column has always been that people should be and stay safe. Well sometimes things can happen so quickly, it takes you by surprise. I had an incident that almost took my life, and I would have been gone just that quick if it hadn’t been for my stepson, Glenn, who saved my life.

I was overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning during deer hunting season, so I want to bring its danger to the spotlight and maybe save someone else’s life.

I had taken a buck on December 4th during the muzzleloader season and was going to process it on the night of the 5th. My tractor that I hoist the deer up with was having battery issues, so I decided to let it run while I skinned the deer. After all, it would only take 10 or 15 minutes to skin the buck, and then I could lower it onto the processing table and shut the tractor off.

I’d left the doors open to cool the shed for the deer, so I shut the doors and turned the heater on to be more comfortable. My stepson came in to check on me and said it was kind of fumy in there, and I said it wasn’t bad and I would be done in just a couple minutes.

He started opening the doors, and before I knew it I was breathing hard and began thinking something wasn’t right. At that point I knew I better shut the tractor off. I made it to the tractor and turned the key off, but right then my knees gave out and down I went.

Glenn helped me outside and I went down again, but this time I was out and not responding. He was talking to me and I thought I was answering him, but he said my eyes were glazed over and I wasn’t saying a word.

Thank God he was out there. I asked him if he thought that I could have gotten out myself if he hadn’t been there and he said no way because I was unresponsive. If he hadn’t been

there, could I have gotten out alive?

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING I had a carbon monoxide level of 29.8 in my blood, with the normal level being .0 to 6. Anything over 25 automatically requires treatment in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, which is pressurized to 28 pounds of pure oxygen to get the carbon monoxide out of a person’s body.

If left in the body, carbon monoxide can cause organ, brain and neurological damage. I had a couple two-hour treatments to clean out my system.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and continued on pg. 48

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BC�T January 47

Eyes on Associates. . . continued from pg. 47

can build up even if doors are open but there is not sufficient cross ventilation. The doctors related a lot of horror stories that happened to people under significantly less dangerous conditions than mine.

Small engines like those on lawn mowers and snow blowers, generators and any machines emitting noxious fumes without emissions control can sometimes create the worst conditions. Newer automobiles are a little better because they are equipped with emissions control.

So, I feel compelled to bring this to everyone’s attention. Get carbon monoxide detectors, and don’t take chances. It is far worse than any of us realize. I really feel we should have a specialist come to our Grower Education Conference to give all of us

training and education on this topic.

BRINGING VALUE TO AG Okay, now for the Associate Division news. New this year to the Grower Education Conference & Industry Show, the Associate Division is hosting a “Bringing Value to Agriculture” break-out session on Wednesday, February 8.

We’ve had great response from 21 companies, each expressing interest through written proposals in giving a 5-minute presentation within the one-hour break-out session to tout new technologies and approaches in agricultural management of potato and vegetable production systems.

Ten companies will be chosen by the Grower Education Planning Committee, and if this turns out to be a huge success, we may consider

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slotting two hours for these sessions in the future.

We have eight silent auction prizes available to sponsor. They are a Joe Pavelski signed jersey; Holiday Inn, Wellness Spa and Lake Arrowhead packages; a Lenco replica; Apple iPad Air 2; a 55-inch flat screen Smart 4K TV; and a Lake Michigan charter fishing trip. All proceeds go to the Avis M. Wysocki Memorial Scholarship fund.

The Associate Division fundraiser for water-related education and legislative efforts has succeeded in garnering donations, and we the Board are still in the process of calling and following up with members to promote the need for water education and funding to make it happen. The WPVGA Associate Division will match up to $25,000 of donations, and it looks like we are well on our way to reaching that goal.

That is all I have for now. I’m so grateful that I am still here to write this column and to represent all of you. I received my Christmas present early this year.

We the WPVGA Associate Division are here to help the industry, so if you have any questions, comments, ideas or concerns, please contact me or any of our board members so we can better assist you and provide our best representation for you, our members.

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48 BC�T January

Thanks for reading. That is all for now, be safe, be happy and most of all, be content. There is no better place to be than at peace with yourself.

As always, from me to all of you,

Wayne Solinsky

WPVGA Associate Division President

New Products TOMRA 5A Processor Has Peel Control Module and boasts a high sorting capacity of up to 55 tons of potatoes per hour.

TOMRA Sorting Food launched the TOMRA 5A at Pack Expo 2016 in Chicago, November 6-9. A stateof-the-art machine for the potato processing business, the TOMRA 5A supports processors by combining a straightforward and brand-new graphic user interface with stable sorting performance.

With food safety and quality being a top priority for consumers and

processors alike, the innovative machine goes the extra mile to achieve optimum performance with the new peel control module, an extra add-on system.

The TOMRA 5A also boasts the industry’s highest sort capacity, namely 55 tons of potatoes an hour, a particularly high capacity when combined with a small footprint.

The peel control module can connect to multiple sorting machines and takes potato data from the TOMRA 5A sorter for dependable continued on pg. 50

BC�T January 49

New Products . . .

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continued from pg. 49

Furthermore, the TOMRA 5A has unrivaled potato quality sorting controls. This provides processors with the opportunity to recover product that is not good enough to accept, but at the same time not bad enough to send to waste.

measurements of the peel removal levels.

adjustments are continuously possible, which means the customer is always in control and can easily optimize the sort themselves.

Using proven process control techniques to achieve the desired The interface is dynamic, responsive peel removal, the optimal steam time and easy to use, resulting in a sharper is then calculated and sent directly to learning curve and quicker training the steam peeler. the to 16,000 Gallons Cone Tanks: 70 Gallons to 12,000 Gallons VerticalConsequently, Tanks: 16 Gallons to proficiency for operators. result is lower peel loss and less food The leftover product can• be sent Tanks come standard with total drain bolted fitting • UV inhibitors molded in for longer tank life waste, with no operator supervision to re-peel or trimming lines and can Frost, marketing flat spot for total drainage unit manager, • Conical bottom with Jim • Easy to read molded in gallonage indicators required. eventanks be made into alternative • 18” lid end is standard oncomments, all large tanks“A faster response to • 2” or 3” outlets available on larger products, such as potato• flakes.

Molded in tie down lugs • Siphon tubes to help with drainage varying product conditions, with The TOMRA 5A ensures superior • UV inhibitors molded in output for longerof tank life consistent • 18” lid is standard on all large tanks an more foreign material removal, effectively USER INTERFACE • Engineered welded steel stand available • Molded in tie down lugs for securing tanks product quality and higher yields, is discarding items such as corn • 3has - Year datepossible, of shipment • 3 -plastics, Year warranty from date ofMoreover, shipment the TOMRA 5A anwarranty from now regardless of who is cobs, wood, stems, glass intuitive, unique and functional Don’t forget to pick up your Pumps, fittings, accessories and hose from Ag Systems. operating the TOMRA 5A. There is and even stray golf balls. This www.agsystemsonline.com graphical user interface design, no longer a need for a specialist to process minimizes the risk of food which makes it convenient to use operate and adjust the sorter.” contamination further down the for all operators. TOMRA ACT, the line and leads to improved product The TOMRA 5A saves 24 hours of brand-new graphical user interface, quality. sorting statistics on board, which encompasses a one screen layout makes it possible to review all data The sorter also has improved so users can see all critical sort within an operator-specified time sanitation features that have information and real-time sorting window. The on-screen display been designed and developed in data at a glance.

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with easy-to-read graphic displays of production for all or part of the day. Detailed product data is also available.

Lastly, another new feature of the sorting machine is its self-monitoring capability—the system alerts the plant of detected issues affecting the sorter’s operation and performance.

“The TOMRA 5A sorter, equipped with TOMRA ACT, represents the latest innovation in whole product sorting systems technology,” Frost concludes. “This sorter has improved performance and added functionality to help customers address the increasing demands on the processor for food safety assurance, improved

yields and lower running costs.”

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Bayer Launches Velum Prime in Canada the first non-fumigant nematicide registered for potatoes north of the border Bayer has announced the launch of Velum Prime nematicide, the first nonfumigant nematicide registered for potatoes in Canada.

in-furrow application equipment.

Plus, applied in-furrow, Velum Prime offers the added benefit of early blight protection.

Velum Prime is a new mode of action and chemical class (pyridinyl ethyl benzamide) for nematode protection.

It offers growers effective nematode protection that helps sustain plant vigor and maximize crop yield potential.

Available in gallon jugs, Velum Prime is easy to apply, with minimal use restrictions, including flexible tank mix compatibility.

“The launch of Velum Prime in Canada provides protection against a yield robbing pest that, for many growers, didn’t have a viable solution outside of fumigants,” says Jon Weinmaster, crop and campaign marketing manager, horticulture and corn at Bayer. “Potato growers have made great advances in increasing yields and quality, and this tool will help them take it a step further.”

Maximum residue limits (MRLs) for Velum Prime applied in-furrow are in place supporting trade in North America and Europe. Additional MRLs supporting trade in other key export countries, including Japan, are expected early in 2017.

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Recent trials of Velum Prime demonstrated consistent yield and quality increases and reduction in plant parasitic nematodes, including root lesion, root knot and potato cyst nematode.

“Velum Prime is another tool for use in a complete nematode management program,” says Weinmaster.

APPLIED IN-FURROW Velum Prime is applied in-furrow at planting. It comes in a liquid formulation that offers reliable efficacy at low application rates, making it ideal for use with existing

Velum Prime, growers are encouraged to talk to their local retailer or visit cropscience.bayer.ca/VelumPrime.

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BC�T January 51

Badger Beat Should Nitrogen in Irrigation Water Be Credited in Nutrient Management Planning?

By Matt Ruark, UW-Madison Department of Soil Science

Conventional wisdom would suggest that we shouldn't credit any

nitrogen (N) from irrigation water (i.e. the N in the groundwater, rather than N added as fertigation). This is because the original N rate trials used to develop the current recommendations were conducted under conditions where the nitrate-N concentration of groundwater was between 10 to 15 ppm (parts per million). What does remain unknown is the amount of N added through irrigation based on irrigation rate.

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Variation in the amount of irrigation water (in inches) applied will also vary the total amount of N applied (as lb.-N/acre). But, if you have groundwater nitrate-N concentrations in this range, then the current recommendations should be valid for your fields.

However, there may be an issue for those who have considerably greater or lower nitrate-N values. If you have lower groundwater nitrate, do you need more N? If you have more than 15 ppm, can you cut back on N? The Above: Goldrush potato plants look healthy 45 days after emergence at the Hancock Agricultural Research Station (HARS). Current Nitrogen (N) rate studies for Goldrush at HARS indicate that the optimal N rate was 175 lb.-N/acre in 2015 and 205 lb.-N/acre in 2016.

nitrogen fertilizer recommendations for potato from Minnesota range from 230 to 250 lb.-N/acre for yields greater than 500 hundredweight (cwt.)/acre.

They also suggest crediting N in irrigation water when the total amount applied exceeds 20 lb.-N/ acre. For example, if 40 lb.-N/acre is supplied through irrigation water, then farmers could cut back their inseason N rate by 20 lb.-N/acre.

MONITORING NITRATE-N This does require monitoring of nitrate-N concentration in groundwater and calculations to convert concentration to fertilizer rate equivalents. But the researchers there indicate that the baseline nitrate-N is 10 ppm, indicating that there can be a meaningful N credit if concentrations exceed 15 ppm on any field.

Current N rate studies for Goldrush at the Hancock Agricultural Research

Station indicate that the optimal N rate was 175 lb.-N/acre in 2015 and 205 lb.-N/acre in 2016. The current fertilizer guidelines suggest an N rate of 220 lb.-N/acre for yields of 450 to 550 cwt./acre and 250 lb./acre of yields greater than 550 cwt./acre, so these studies indicate that either Goldrush has a lower N requirement than most other varieties, or that there is a lot of extra N being applied to the system.

In 2015, there was 62 lb.-N/acre applied through the irrigation water, and we achieved a total yield of 480 cwt./acre when only starter N was

applied (33 lb.-N/acre). So clearly, the total amount of N applied through irrigation is affecting yield and optimum N rate.

The N applied through irrigation is in a plant-available form and needs to be considered in some way when interpreting these N response studies. Analysis is underway on the available historic data in Wisconsin to address this issue and presentations on nitrogen fertilizer recommendations for potato are planned for the 2017 WPVGA Grower Education Conference. continued on pg. 54

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Badger Beat . . . continued from pg. 53

Weed Regulatory and Resistance Issues Loom

By Jed Colquhoun, Interim Associate Dean, Professor, CALS, UW-Madison

While weed management across the Wisconsin potato acreage

and actively growing.

On the regulatory updates front, in September 2015, we learned that diquat would undergo federal registration re-evaluation as part of a required process carried out every 15 years by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

For years, we’ve preached about avoiding weed resistance to herbicides and showed “gory” examples from other parts of the world. Well, we no longer need to travel far to show dramatic examples—unfortunately, we can just look in our backyard.

was generally quite good in the 2016 season, regulatory and resistance issues continue to loom and threaten management options in the very near future.

Diquat has been a mainstay for potato vine desiccation for many years, speeding up vine kill and enhancing skin set and reducing disease risk. Several restrictions were originally proposed by the EPA in the diquat re-registration process, including limitations to the rate and number of applications, but by far the proposed application timing restrictions were most concerning for potato growers.

The EPA draft risk assessment indicated that diquat use might need to be limited to fall and winter months, effectively eliminating use as a potato vine desiccant in our production region. The potato industry and research community entered many public comments reflecting the potential negative impact of such a restriction.

Final decisions are still pending based on this input, but our voices

have been heard. Our comments were justified with data from vine desiccation research supported by the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA).

Additionally, we’ve been investigating several alternative vine desiccation systems that will speed up vine kill and enhance skin set. Our work has targeted early season potato vine desiccation as the most challenging scenario, when vines remain healthy

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In Wisconsin, we now have confirmed glyphosate resistance in horseweed, giant ragweed, Palmer amaranth and common waterhemp, with suspected cases involving additional species.

Confirmed resistance to glyphosate is now quite widespread in species such as common waterhemp.

Additionally, populations of this weed species have also been found in Wisconsin with resistance to multiple herbicide modes of action in a single plant. In crops such as potato, this makes our efforts to secure new weed management tools even more critical so that we can overcome resistance by diversifying our portfolio.

In response to widespread global glyphosate resistance in weeds, agronomic crops including soybean, cotton and corn with resistance to synthetic auxin herbicides such as 2,4-D and dicamba are in various stages of the approval and introduction processes.

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GLYPHOSATE RESISTANCE

In August 2016, the EPA issued a compliance advisory noting allegations of dicamba misuse on early commercial introductions of resistant soybean and cotton across 10 states (there were no legal uses of dicamba across the top of soybean or cotton during the 2016 growing season).

Crop damage allegedly from offtarget dicamba was reported on thousands of acres of nearby crops that ranged from melons and tomatoes to peaches. We can learn from this unfortunate situation as synthetic auxin-resistant soybean seed will increase in availability next growing season.

Keep in mind that off-target herbicide movement happens in a number of ways that includes volatility, spray drift at the time of application and tank contamination, and many of our broadleaf specialty crops (including potato) are susceptible to these products.

RIght: Research plots are used to investigate potential potato vine desiccants. Rapid potato vine desiccation is important for good skin set, to reduce disease risk and to improve harvestability. continued on pg. 56

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BC�T January 55

Badger Beat . . . continued from pg. 55

2016 Year End Review of Diseases in Wisconsin Potatoes

By Amanda J. Gevens, Extension Vegetable Pathologist, Associate Professor, UW-Madison

In general, the 2016 growing season provided good conditions for

a healthy and vigorous potato crop. Early conditions tended to favor emergence with low pressures from soil- and seed-borne pathogens that can, in some years, reduce early season progress.

As the crop moved toward row closure, conditions continued to favor healthful growth with relatively low disease caused by Alternaria species causing early blight and brown spot. These diseases, and primarily just early blight, developed 10 to 14 days later than typical for many parts of the state and followed closely the Potato Physiological Day, or P-Day, established threshold of 300.

Reduced onset of early blight meant reduced inoculum, overall, in the crop lending to continued good control of this disease as vines tipped. In the mid-late season, a few diseases were problematic in some production areas

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of Wisconsin, including blackleg and white mold.

Late blight (US-23 genotype), while present in the state in five counties based on reports from mid-August to early November, disease did not

greatly impact the commercial potato crop in 2016.

Late blight: Careful adherence to preventive management programs with effective fungicides aided in limiting the disease, despite the, at times, favorable weather conditions for late blight based on the Blitecast risk tool.

As a refresher, the tool presumes presence of Phytophthora infestans inoculum within the production environment (from one/more sources including potato volunteers, seed potatoes and other inadvertent overwintering of the pathogen in host plants).

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BLOCKING LATE BLIGHT Given our knowledge of late blight, we can surmise that either we had reduced inoculum in the system or that despite the ideal weather and inoculum risk, growers effectively blocked disease with use of effectively timed and selected fungicides.

Blackleg: While not uncommon in any given year, blackleg was notable in 2016 due to the detection of a new genus causing such disease. The primary bacterial pathogens that cause potato blackleg and tuber soft rot are Pectobacterium atrosepticum, P. carotovorum, P. wasabiae, and more recently in the U.S., Dickeya spp.

Dickeya and Pectobacterium affect many host species including potato, carrot, broccoli, corn, sunflower and parsnip; legumes and small grains are not known hosts.

Dickeya dianthicola appears to spread

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rapidly over long distances via seed potatoes. It was first reported in the Netherlands in the 1970s, and has since been detected in many other European countries, and now, as of 2015, in the United States. Wet weather promotes the development of blackleg pathogens.

Dickeya can be much more active under warmer conditions than Pectobacterium. Dickeya testing is available through the University of Wisconsin Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic and at a handful of other diagnostic labs in the country.

White mold: While white mold is a soil-borne, field-specific disease, with little to no recognized long distance dispersal threat to crops, it continues to pose a concern in potato production in Wisconsin, especially where bean rotations are common.

The fungus, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, has a very broad host range including legumes, sunflowers, canola, most

vegetables, tobacco, many flowering bedding plants and stone fruits.

White mold is easily identified by the characteristic white cottony mycelium of the pathogen that grows on the surfaces of infected foliage.

WATER-SOAKED LESIONS Primary lesions appear water-soaked with secondary symptoms such as wilting, bleaching and shredding also present on above-ground plant parts.

At later stages of disease, the cottony hyphae aggregate into hard black sclerotia, which are most commonly found on the outer surface of the diseased tissue, but sometimes inside of floral receptacles, fruits and stem piths.

The soil-borne, overwintering sclerotia germinate after a period of conditioning in a near-saturated, cool soil surface environment to produce structures that bear locally dispersed spores. Prolonged leaf

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Badger Beat . . . continued from pg. 57

wetness and cool periods further favor spore germination and infection, especially during flowering or crop stress.

Targeted management of white mold is important, as an area of infection in a field can expand over time as the pathogen produces more soil-borne

sclerotia within infected plant tissues.

Movement of the sclerotia in infested soil on field implements can create further expansion of the infested area.

Prevention of white mold should be multifaceted with inclusion of one or more of the following management

components: non-host crop rotation, promoting increased airflow, effective fungicides to protect susceptible plants during the bloom period, elimination of sources of inoculum, host weed control, nitrogen and water management, and selection of resistant plants.

2016 Insect Pest Management Review

By Russell L. Groves, UW-Madison Department of Entomology

In the 2016 crop season, few insect surprises emerged, with only few exceptions. The first being the increased range expansion and overwintering of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) in Wisconsin (Fig. 1).

This exotic and invasive stinkbug was initially detected in the state in 2010, with new reports over many counties by 2012, and it established reproducing populations throughout many portions of southern Wisconsin by 2015.

This true bug in the insect family Pentatomidae is certainly known as an agricultural pest in its native range of China, Japan and Korea.

Figure 1: The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug increased both its range expansion and overwintering in 2016.

The BMSB has become a serious pest of fruit, vegetables and farm crops in the mid-Atlantic region and will probably become a pest of these commodities in our area of the Midwest once populations continue to increase in localized areas.

BMSB becomes a nuisance pest both indoors and out when it is attracted to the outside of houses on warm fall days in search of protected, overwintering sites, similar to the behavior of the Asian ladybeetles.

In the upper Midwest processing vegetable and potato production regions, the BMSB could certainly become problematic on pepper, green bean, sweet corn, tomato and even potato, if populations become large and sufficiently damaging in the years to come.

Another notable exception, or change, for 2016 has been the (delayed) emergence patterns of the Colorado potato beetle (CPB) from overwintering (Fig. 2).

58 BC�T January

Recall that adult CPB overwinter within the soil (usually 12-24 inches below the surface), often surrounding fields where potato have been planted and grown in prior years.

And in the following season, when temperatures become conducive for emergence, the adult CPB emerge from the soil and often walk to newly planted potato that has typically been rotated out of a given field.

PROTRACTED EMERGENCE And because populations of these insects generally respond to similar environmental conditions in the spring, the timing and duration of the emergence period has generally been predictable (e.g. mid-late May). In recent years, however, the timing of adult CPB emergence appears to have been protracted over a 3- to 4.5-week timeframe now extending from midMay through almost all of June.

More synchronous colonization of potato by CPB that previously occurred over a short window of

Figure 2: Illustrated is the delayed emergence pattern of the Colorado beetle from overwintering, and then its departure after the growing and harvest seasons.

time after crop emergence is more advantageous, as it often results in a larger proportion of susceptible life stages present within fields at the same time.

In contrast, asynchronous and extended periods of emergence and subsequent colonization result in extended egg deposition over longer intervals, leading to the presence of multiple larval stadia present

simultaneously in the crop.

And several of the new reduced-risk insecticides do not possess the same broad spectrum of activity against all CPB stadia. As a result, growers will need to closely monitor the emergence periods of CPB in order to more accurately time the successive re-application of reduced foliar applications necessary for control of these asynchronous populations.

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POTATOES USA NEWS Potato Recipes are Everywhere!

Yes, we’ve just celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve and Day, and that means lots of focus on potatoes, but the proliferation of recipes in the U.S. media shows more attention to the potato than normal.

And while some of these recipes are takes on traditional favorites, many are new and exciting approaches to WEEKLY RECIPE ROUNDUP! Erupting Potato Volcanoes from Twisted: https://www.facebook.com/twistedfood social/videos/1222348887804305/

Runner’s World – this is not potatoes, but as part of the Potatoes USA “Potatoes Power Performance” initiative, this would be perfect if it was: http://www.runnersworld.com/ vegetables/the-surprising-vegetable-thatsbetter-than-a-banana-in-smoothies

Thrillist presents Philly Cheesesteak Waffle Fries: https://www.facebook.com/Thrillist/ videos/10154583426810891/

potatoes. Some also focus on the nutritional benefits of potatoes.

So, while there may be those who try to find fault with the potato, there are many more writers and editors who understand the versatility, nutritional benefits and deliciousness of potatoes and are sharing the love. Below is a roundup of recipes published just last week.

New York Times Creamy Mashed Potato Casserole: http://cooking.nytimes.com/ recipes/1013923-mashed-potato-casserole

Tastemade Creamy Stuffed Baked Potato: https://www.facebook.com/tastemade/ videos/1212213562199142/

Tastemade Chicken Stuffed Potato Bombs (with video): https://www.facebook.com/ tastemade/videos/1211204672300031/

Tasting Table – The Best Side Dishes to Serve with Steak: https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/ national/what-to-serve-with-steak-potatoesspinach-mushrooms

New York Times – database of “How to cook potatoes” – A lot of this is basic, but it’s also fantastic. http://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/12-how-tomake-potatoes Food Network Recipe of the Day Email – 11/14: Spaghetti Squash and Potato Gratin (Listed

Bon Appetit Classic Potato Gratin:

Tastemade Garlic Mashed Potato Meatloaf (with video):

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/classic-potatogratin?mbid=social_facebook

https://www.facebook.com/tastemade/ videos/1210272405726591/

And subsequent video posted on Facebook for the same dish: https://www.facebook.com/bonappetitmag/ videos/10157736521240367/

Bon Appetit Mashed Potatoes with Chives (with video):

Bon Appetit Crispy Salt and Vinegar Potatoes:

Bon Appetit Gnocchi Gratin with Gorgonzola Dolce:

Food Network Recipe of the Day Email – 11/9: Potato Leek Soup (with video):

https://www.facebook.com/bonappetitmag/ posts/10157731559690367

https://www.facebook.com/bonappetitmag/ posts/10157709083545367

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/ roasted-potato-leek-soup-recipe.html

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60 BC�T January

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Potatoes Address Aging People’s Nutrition in China In China, the issue of aging people’s nutrition is one of the top concerns voiced by young females born in 1980’s and ’90’s who care for and about the elderly.

To address this concern, Potatoes USA China wrote an article focused on U.S. nutrition and why potatoes

are suitable for aging people, including that spuds are sodium and fat free, have potassium, dietary fiber and vitamin C and that they have a soft texture making them easy to enjoy by aging people.

The article was then released by three popular healthcare opinion

leaders on WeChat. In October, the article received 137,209 page views on WeChat through the key opinion leaders’ pages. In addition to the key opinion leaders that Potatoes USA worked with, the article was also picked up and posted by five additional media outlets reaching more than 40,000 people.

Potatoes USA Receives Export Promotion Funding The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the allocation of the Market Access Program (MAP) funding for mid-year 2017. The funds were awarded to 70 agriculture organizations to promote U.S. agricultural products in international markets.

The rating is based on the quality of the application, the quality of program implementation the previous year, including attainment of the performance measures, the quality of reporting, the growth of exports and the expenditure rate

of previous funds received.

The Potatoes USA staff and international representatives will need to work to accommodate the $229,866 reduction without substantially impacting the marketing programs.

While the MAP is authorized at $200 million, the amount of funding specifically allocated to the organizations is reduced by sequestration, which increased to 6.9 percent this year, and funds are removed to cover administrative costs at USDA to run the program.

The current year funding is then increased by unexpended funds from previous years. However, the amount of carryover available for 2017 is 30 percent less than in the previous year. Thus, the total amount of funds allocated to the organizations was $190,332,478, or 4.5 percent less than in 2016.

The Potatoes USA allocation of $4,826,422 was correspondingly 4.5 percent lower than in mid-year 2016. Once again, the Potatoes USA application received a “Highly Successful” rating, which is the highest possible.

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People Klompien to Lead United Potato Growers of America Mark has spent nearly his entire life in potatoes, from growing to processing United Potato Growers of America (UPGA) announces that its executive board has unanimously chosen Mark Klompien as the organization’s next president and chief executive officer, replacing Jerry Wright.

“We are excited to have Mark on board to lead UPGA and continue on the solid foundation laid by Jerry Wright,” said Chairman Jed Ellithorpe.

Before joining UPGA, Klompien served for four and half years as

president of the Idaho Grower Shippers Association (IGSA). Prior to his time with the IGSA, he was the vice president of supply chain management at Idahoan Foods, and spent 18 years at Basic American Foods (BAF) and six years at Lamb Weston.

During his tenure with BAF, Klompien held positions in engineering, operations, raw material, supply chain, procurement and government relations.

Above: Former president of the Idaho Grower Shippers Association, Mark Klompien was unanimously voted in as the new president and executive officer of the United Potato Growers of America.

Klompien has spent virtually his entire life in potatoes, from growing up and working on his father’s seed potato farm in Montana, to his lengthy career in the potato processing industry. He has worked first-hand with all of the grower shippers in Idaho, as well as most

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other potato producing states, and has built positive and trusting relationships along the way.

EXTENSIVE SERVICE RECORD He has served as the board member, executive committee vice-chair and as chairman of the Potato Executive Committee for the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI). He served on the College of Agriculture advisory board for the University of Idaho, and on the board of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association.

Klompien holds a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture engineering from Montana State University, and completed the

Stanford Graduate School of Business executive program. He obtained his professional engineering license in 1995. He and his wife, Valerie, make their home in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

When announcing his retirement in August, Wright indicated that he would continue in his role as CEO until the board of directors found a suitable replacement.

“Jerry Wright’s contribution to the potato industry is immeasurable,” said Ellithorpe. Along with principal United founder, Albert Wada, Wright was a key organizer and recruiter for potato growers in Idaho, Colorado, Columbia Basin, Klamath Basin and Wisconsin. In retirement, he plans to

devote his time as a volunteer for the LDS Church, working on worldwide self-reliance programs.

United Potato Growers of America was formed in March 2005 by growers to focus on managing national potato supply to positively affect grower profitability. Through UPGA membership, growers are empowered to better understand and act upon demand for their product.

UPGA members reside in Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. UPGA’s vision is to provide a consistent supply of high quality potatoes at a reasonable price for everyone including the consumer. Contact UPGA’s national office at 801266-5050 or visit www.unitedpotatousa.com to learn more.

Heartland Farms Welcomes Golden to Sales Team Danielle Golden, who has spent 28 years in the potato industry, has joined Heartland Farms as a senior sales and customer service manager to further develop its growing portfolio of regional and national accounts Heartland Farms, Inc. announces that Danielle Golden has joined the farm to further develop its growing portfolio of regional and national accounts. Golden has spent the past 28 years in the potato industry where she was instrumental in acquiring and servicing numerous accounts, specifically within the chipping potato segment.

Danielle joins Heartland Farms as senior sales and customer service manager to continue to build upon the operation’s success in providing high quality products and services to many of the top snack food manufacturing companies in the United States.

“It is an honor to represent an extremely innovative, family-owned and operated business with an

intense dedication to their customers, employees and vendors,” Golden says.

“I look forward to working with the team to further develop strategic partnerships and alliances within the snack food industry,” she adds. “I am blessed to be joining such a respected company.”

Jeremie Pavelski, president of Heartland Farms, remarks, “I am extremely honored to have Danielle join our team. Heartland has always been an industry leader and Danielle’s experience, dedication and respect in the industry make her a great fit for the team.”

Above: Danielle Golden, who has spent 28 years in the potato industry, has joined Heartland Farms as a senior sales and customer service manager to further develop its growing portfolio of regional and national accounts.

great customers, and increasing the depth and breadth of our products, markets and the support we provide,” he concludes.

“Our values are very well aligned and the addition of Danielle will help ensure we are on the forefront of market development and customer service,” Pavelski adds.

Heartland Farms is a fifth generation, family-owned and operated farm dedicated to providing a healthy and safe food product while utilizing the latest technology to help ensure sustainability. Heartland is a market leader in innovation and sustainable practices, operates over 24,000 acres of irrigated farmland and ships out over 11,000 semi loads of potatoes each year.

“We are a continually growing company and look forward to working together on expanding our business, providing excellent support to all our

More information on Heartland Farms’ history, products and services, sustainability efforts and community involvement can be found at www. heartland.farm and https://www.facebook.com/ HeartlandFarmsWI. BC�T January 63

NPC News

NPC Supports Potato Research Proposals Studies of high throughput sensing and bacterial soft rot win funding The National Potato Council (NPC) recently offered its support for research proposals seeking funding under the Farm Bill’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative.

The projects are led by Dr. Jeffrey Endelman, University of WisconsinMadison assistant professor of horticulture, and Dr. Amy Charkowski, formerly of UW-Madison and current head of bio agricultural sciences and pest management at Colorado State University.

Endelman is working on high

throughput sensing for potato production and breeding. Research on increasing the throughput could be transformational for the industry.

Charkowski is working on next generation technologies for managing bacterial soft rot. There is a growing need to better understand Dickeya and Pectobacterium as the pathogens become nationwide problems.

NPC is committed to providing grower input as needed to the research groups.

Dr. Amy Charkowski (left), head of bio agricultural sciences and pest management at Colorado State University, and Dr. Jeffrey Endelman (right), University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of horticulture, gained the support of the National Potato Council for their research on managing bacterial soft rot (Charkowski) and high throughput sensing for potato production and breeding (Endelman).

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Ali's Kitchen Apples, Potatoes and Cheese Sauce, Oh My!

Column and photos by Ali Carter, Vice President, WPGA Auxiliary It is winter here in Central Wisconsin and the blowing winds and chilly temperatures have me longing for warm, hearty comfort food.

I recently came across this recipe from www.eatwisconsincheese. com and was intrigued by the use of apples and potatoes, so decided to give it a try (with a few tweaks and adjustments of course).

The combination of sweet roasted apples and red onions tossed with crispy potatoes and drizzled with a creamy white cheese sauce was just the comfort food I had been seeking for this particularly cold winter day.

Now, before you start envisioning an idyllic setting with me placing this beautiful dish on the table for my family as the snow gently falls outside our window, let me add a healthy dose of reality to this story.

Creating this recipe did not go smoothly.

I found myself the center of a smelly cloud of chemicals from the sealant the mason was using on our stained concrete floors, men were coming in and out of the house to repair drywall and my dog couldn’t allow them to go about their job without trailing them and barking wildly, multiple radios were playing music … all tuned to different stations, and my daughter was repeatedly texting me as she tried to make plans for the weekend with her friends.

I was also making bread this same day and had the ingredients spread along my counter, mingling with the apples and potatoes, waiting for their turn. There was laundry piled high on the laundry room floor and bathrooms that needed cleaning.

This was not exactly a Martha Stewart moment for me.

While I was grateful for the work continued on pg. 66

Roasted Potatoes and Apples with Creamy Cheese Sauce

INGREDIENTS: 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes 2 large apples, cut in 1/2-inch cubes 1 large red onion, large dice 1/3 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt Pepper

Alpine-style cheese sauce: Directions: 1. Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, combine potatoes, apples, and onions; toss with olive oil. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 45-60 minutes, until potatoes are tender and deep golden in parts, gently stirring every 15 minutes.

2. While potatoes and apples are roasting, prepare the cheese sauce. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk. Simmer, whisking until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened. Reduce heat and add cheese and thyme, mixing well. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

3. Serve cheese sauce alongside warm potatoes, or drizzle on top before serving.

Slightly adapted from the recipe at www.eatwisconsincheese.com

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter 2 garlic cloves, finely minced 4 tablespoons flour 3 cups whole milk 1 cups (8 ounces) Wisconsin alpine-style cheese, shredded (I used a combination of Swiss and Gruyere cheeses).

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped Salt and pepper 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (optional, but I highly recommend it!)

BC�T January 65

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Ali's Kitchen. . . continued from pg. 65

being done on the house, I knew that I would complete the housework eventually, and I dearly love my sweet pup and wonderful daughter, I was struggling to focus on cooking.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when I “oops’d” this recipe.

A FLOURY ROUX While making the roux for the cheese sauce, I picked up my bowl of flour and dumped it into the pan.

As I mixed the flour into the melted butter, it took me a few seconds to wonder why it was so thick and clumpy. Ugh, I had dumped in the flour I had measured out for the bread—4 cups worth of flour! This roux only needed 4 tablespoons.

I quickly, and not very gracefully, scooped as much flour out of the pan as I could, but the damage was done.

Much of it had already soaked up the butter and was beginning to scorch onto the bottom of the pan.

I now had a mess of flour on my floor and counter, barking dog, radios blaring and men passing through my kitchen with looks of confusion on their faces as they observed my mess and the smell of burning flour.

I wasn’t ready to give up and start over, so I decided to just go with it

and grabbed the milk. I added as much as I felt was necessary to thin down the sauce. And you know what?

It all worked out fine. The sauce came together with some additional cheese and milk creating a large sauce pan full of creamy goodness.

I took what I needed from the pan and drizzled it over my roasted potatoes and the rest was used to make a delicious lunch for the next day.

You know the saying “When life gives you lemons you make lemonade?”

Well, my motto for the day was “When inattentiveness gives you 4 cups of burning flour, make gallons of cheese sauce, ladle it over noodles for macaroni and cheese, and tell yourself that you meant to do that all along!”

Life is messy and things do not always go smoothly. It’s natural to feel frustration, but know that in the end everything really does work out. Sometimes what at first looks like a yucky mistake can lead you to something delicious!

Even knowing this, my hope for you is that you try this recipe and it comes together much more easily than what I experienced.

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