Potato MinutePotato Growers of Alberta

www.albertapotatoes.ca

August 4th, 2015

Inside thiS Edition

North Area Summer Meeting and Seed Coordinator 2

South Area Irrigation Tour and Project Manager's Report 3

Japanese Delegates Hosted by PGA 4

PGA's Golf Scramble Thank You 5

PGA's History 6

APIA News 7

Golf Scramble Fundraising Results 7

Practices for Thimet 8

From the Office 8

Upcoming PGA Events

Tuesday, Aug. 11th North Area

Summer Meeting 9:00 AM CDC North

Thursday, Aug. 13th South Area

Irrigation Tour Be at the PGA Office at 8:00 am, back by 4pm

November 17 - 19th 2015 Potato Conference

& Trade Show Sheraton Red Deer

November 21 - 23, 2016 2016 Potato Conference

& Trade Show Banff Springs Hotel

The growing season of 2015 will go down as one of the driest years in recent memory for many areas of Western Canada. There are areas in Western BC that have not had any measureable moisture since April. The greater Vancouver area is in a water shortage situation that it has not seen in decades. The grain belt of Saskatchewan has not had a drop of rain most of the summer and pastures/hay land across the west are dismal at best. Up until last week, there were many areas in Alberta that had no rain since early June, with many municipalities across AB having declared a state of agricultural disaster. There have been reports of 15-20 bus cereal crops and 20 bus pea crops coming off in some Southern Alberta areas. Along with this drought though has come some events this past 2 weeks of extreme weather. Tornadoes in the Calgary area and golf ball to tennis ball size hail in the Lacombe-Ponoka area that has caused extensive damage to both crops and property. The Edmonton area has finally received about 70 mm of rain in the last week so that will help some crops in that area. The irrigation crops remain about 10 days

ahead of schedule and with some weather cooperation, should produce some decent yields and gravity.

The rest of the continent has also experienced some ‘out of character’ weather this summer. PEI and NB had a late start to spring with the overabundance of snow and early spring rains. Once planting did happen, the country dried up and the crops started to suffer from a lack of moisture and cool temperatures. Most areas were suffering a great deal but recent rains have helped the situation out somewhat. Manitoba and the mid-west have had a good growing season, being about 10-14 days ahead of normal with good moisture conditions. Idaho and the Columbia Basin have taken somewhat of a beating in regards to high temperatures this year. There has been multiple days with temperatures above 38ᵒC and the fear remains that the russet crops may suffer from this. Only time will tell how the harvest of 2015 will turn out.

The 1st week of July a number of the Negotiating Committee and myself had the opportunity to attend the PMANA summer meeting. This year it was

held in beautiful, smoke- filled Whistler BC. The field tour was held in the seed growing area of Pemberton. On a normal year this would have been a great area to appreciate the scenery, but the forest fires had a different idea. There was three days of information sharing and discussion about the processing sector across North America, what worked well this year and what can be improved upon.

The balance of the week was spent in Vancouver with CPC having their summer meetings as well as a PTF meeting. Work continues on investigating the possibility of having our seed inspections done with ASD programs. In the meantime CFIA will continue to provide the seed industry with their inspection services.

Every indication was that this year’s edition of Burgers and Beans and the PGA Golf Tournament was a huge success. I believe we fed more people than ever at the evening event and the after golf banquet was enjoyed by about 165 people. A huge thank you to everyone who made these two days a huge success. Until next month, Terence

From the Desk of the Executive Director

Seed Coordinator’s Update

Time: 9:00 a.m. with lunch to follow Where: Crop Diversification Centre North, 17507 Fort Road, Edmonton

Topics to be presented:

Heather Meberg, Post Harvest Test Co-ordinator for Western Canada, from BC, will be discussing how the project is managed from the collection of samples through to the final emergence counts and inspections. She will also be discussing the benefits of a grow out and why the project is beneficial to the Alberta industry.

Terence Hochstein, Executive Director, PGA ~ Provincial and National Industry Update Jay Anderson, Project Co-ordinator, PGA ~ Updates on the Late Blight and Aphid Collection Research Projects.

Tina Lewis, AAF, will be talking about the national variety trial consisting of the new lines bred by Dr. Benoit Bizimungu, AAFC, NB.

Hope to see you there! Deb Hart ~ PGA Seed Coordinator

2

Potatoes Grown in Maine While attending the Potato Association of America AGM in Portland, Maine, Jay and I were able to visit two businesses who use potatoes grown in Maine. The first is a distillery using potatoes to produce vodka, and the second is a donut shop using only potato flour. Who knew!!! Jay’s opinion of the potato donuts was simply, “Oh mama, they were amazing!”

Project Manager’s Report

3

Hello from PAA in Portland, Maine ~ Week Of July 20th - 24th

There are lots of really great topics being discussed at the 99th Annual Potato Association of America conference in Portland, Maine. Presentations have been given on Potato Physiology, Plant Protection, Potato Breeding and Genetics, Potato Production, Extension, and Management. I have been fortunate enough to become the newest member on the Graduate Student Awards Committee. A group of 7 of us determined the top 3 presenters (out of 14 presenters) and awarded them the Frank L. Haynes Graduate Student Research Award. Graduate students presented their research on a number of meaningful and relevant research projects for the potato industry. This is evidence to me of how the potato industry is thriving. There were registrants from across the globe. It has been a pleasure to attend the conference. I have

met lots of important people, who know a whole lot more about potatoes than me. But what better way to learn!

We made visits to Peaks Island, where we ate lobster with Lori Wing, and toured the coastline on a bike and saw lighthouses when there was a few minutes to spare. We ate “holy donuts” and visited a few New England homes constructed in the 1850s. I thoroughly enjoyed the time, the company, and those Maine donuts, and look forward to future associations in the potato industry. Jay Anderson ~ PGA’s Project Manager

2015 South Area Field Day Thursday August 13, 2015

Irrigation Tour Please RVSP by August 10, 2015Email: pga@albertapotatoes.ca

Tour Schedule- Bus Departure - PGA Office 8:00 am- SMRID - Dam Facility Tour - Lunch - St. Mary’s Reservoir Campground- Chin Dam - Hydropower- Monsanto Facility - Hybrid Canola- TID - Irrigation Pipeline Screening- Bus Arival - PGA Office 4:30 pm

PGA Hosts Japanese Delegates

4

On July 13th, The PGA invited a group of 22 Japanese Farmers for a tour of the Alberta Potato Industry. This group of mainly dairy farmers, but also a few potato farmers, wanted to experience agriculture in Canada. They began their tour in Ontario, and were finishing in Vancouver, with one translator in tow who helped organize the event.

The PGA’s visit all started with a delicious “Canadian” lunch at the PGA office featuring Maple Pork, NEW Alberta potatoes (from Rockytrail Farms) with a peas in a creamy dill sauce, fresh salads and buns, and cake & berries for dessert. After lunch, PGA’s Project Manger Jay Anderson accompanied the group on a tour of Windiana Farms’ storage and gradiing facilities, along with a demonstration of their self propelled harvester. The potato farmers in the group were very impressed, as they still harvest mostly by non- conventional methods in their operations. From there the group toured the Bio Digester at Perry Produce, to understand the process of waste to energy, as well as a tour of their potato facilities. The group was eager to meet the Japanese membership at the APIA BBQ later that afternoon, which was the last stop of the day. There they enjoyed their fill of burgers and fries, and had many questions for our growers, according to Jay, such as; “Why are there so many young people still wanting to farm?” “How many acres on average do the producers grow?”“What do you do with all these potatoes?”

Jay reported that the Japanese were very gracious to their hosts, and presented gifts to those who’s farms they visited, and he felt he made a couple of new friends in the bunch. Overall, it was a very good experience for the guests as well as our members, as they also gave us a view of what is grown and how much they produce in Japan. As mentioned,the

Alberta Potato Industry was once again represented

at the Potato Association of

America’s 2015 Conference. See if you can you find Deb & Jay in this

crowd!

PGA Golf Tournament Thank You

5

To our many generous sponsors for their support of the Potato Growers

of Alberta’s Golf Tournament, THANK YOU!. Without you this day of fun and networking would not happen!

6

PGA History

The antique potato equipment displayed

at the front of the PGA Office got a new,

more appealing look this month,

which some say was long overdue!

History/Cookbook

As you may recall, there was a request for Growers to become part of a Cookbook Committee, which we hoped to produce as part of the 50th celebrations in 2016. Happily, we have those members in place, but in discussing the project with the PGA Board of Directors, the focus has shifted a bit, to an even better idea! The Board would like to see a history and cookbook combined, where our Growers, past and present get to tell their Alberta potato farming history, like many of you did for the 40th Anniversary! This time we also want you to include one of your favorite recipes, like many of you did back in 1997, when our last cookbook was released. It will be a very unique publication, and one we hope to begin creating this year. As a committee, we have alot to discuss as far as lay out, and proceeds of sales, but in the meantime we want Growers to start thinking about their farming story, and decide what special potato recipe you would like to share with the readers.

Wendy McDonald ~ PGA’s Financial & Communications Administrator

Ever wondered about “PGA potato” being confused with “PGA Golf”? In sifting through a box of old financials, we came upon this fax from Glenn Hurst, former Financial Manager of the PGA, addressed to the Board of Directors back in July of 1996. Glenn apparantly was also very techno savy, and created a PGA website, and took the name www.pga.com before the “PGA golf”, who really wanted the name. In the end the Professional Golf Association made this Association an offer we couldn’t refuse, but only after much negotiation with Glenn.

7

APIA News

Funds Raised at the PGA Golf Tournament

Three worthy organizations benefited from the generousity of our Growers and

Industry at the 2015 Potato Growers of Alberta Golf Tournament.

Big Brothers, with their “best putt using the toy of your choosing” raised $795.00 and MS of Canada with their “closest to the pin” on a par 3 hole raised $635.00 this year! Matt suggested a new fundraiser

called “Beat the Pro”. This was your chance to get entered into a draw for a putter and golf bag courtesy of the PGA

by challenging their Pro to a closest to the pin competition. This time you chose

the club for the Pro to use! Overall, close to $2000 was raised, with $500 of the proceeds going to Paradise Golf & Country Club’s Junior Golf Club, and

$1500 was donted to The Salvation Army, for their Emergency Services Response

Program, who have been busy providing support for those effected by the wildfires

in Alberta. Great job everyone!

Bill Hacker and wife Lynn were once again supervising the APIA $50,000 “Hole in One” at this year’s golf scamble. Watch for APIA’s Newsletter coming soon with an announcement of all the winners and a recap of Burgers and Beans too, which had a very large crowd in

attendance this year!

The APIA wants your pictures for their photo album for their upcoming 25th Anniversary celebrations in Red Deer this November. Take a picture in your potato field, and write a short congratulatory message. Send your photos by text to 403-393-4648 or email carmen@Sunrise-Ag.ca

Follow APIA’s twitter feeds @APIA1990

The group of business people who make up the Alberta Potato Industry

Association are a hard working bunch, who put on Burger’s & Beans! This

successful networking event happens every year, the night before the PGA

Golf Tournament! Thanks again APIA for a great time!

8

The PGA assumes no responsibility for any errors in the information provided, nor assumes any liability for any damages incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of The Potato Minute. Unless otherwise noted on an

individual document, the PGA grants users permission to reproduce and distribute information in the Potato Minute as long as the contents remain unaltered and as long

as it is noted that the contents have been made available by the PGA.

6008 46 AvenueTaber, AB T1G 2B1Phone: 403-223-2262E-mail: pga@albertapotatoes.ca Staff Editor: Wendy McDonald

From the Office

Alberta OPEN Farm Days is a province-wide event that takes place on August 22nd & 23rd. It is a weekend that brings Albertans together, by allowing them to visit farms across the Province. The goal is that when guests leave, they will know their rural

neighbours a bit better. Some of our PGA Growers are participating in the event. If you look on their website www.albertafarmdays.ca, click on Host Farms at the top of the page which takes you to a list of the farms participating in the event. Under Central Alberta you will see Eagle Creek Farms, and in Southern Alberta you will find both CP Farms and Poplar Bluff Organics. Read more on the activities of one of these participants on the right.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION... “The manufacturer of Thimet (phorate), AMVAC Chemical Corporation has advised us that the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has approved reinstatement of the Phorate Technical package and Amvac’s application to register Thimet 20-G. This is a new formulation of Thimet, and is the same formulation that is being used in the U.S. and several other countries. The 15-G formulation had been registered for

use in Canada only, and as per PMRA’s decision of several years ago, it was no longer registered for use by Canadian potato growers beyond the current growing season.As a result of this decision, we will be able to access Thimet for the 2016 season and beyond. This is excellent news, and PMRA has made its decision well in advance of the January, 2016 timeframe that we had been anticipating. More information will be provided to you once we receive it from PMRA or Amvac.”

There is a new face at the PGA Office this summer. Meet

Michayla Hochstein, Terence’s youngest

daughter, who is our Summer Assistant.

Besides helping to fill in during

holidays, her main duty is to scan the material from the countless boxes in

the back room onto our server. Here she is, standing by her favorite machine!

Welcome Michayla!

Is your “youth” club looking for a way to raise money? The PGA offers $500 cash for clubs wishing to participate in Highway Clean Up. The work involves picking up litter on both sides of Highway 3 for a five mile stretch, and the work must be completed by early October. If your club is interested, please call Wendy or Cindy at 403-223-2262.

FOR SALE AT THE PGA OFFICE

POTATO HYDROMETERS are used to measure gravity, which is a measurement of

potato quality. There is a very high correlation between the

specific gravity and the starch and dry matter content of the tuber.

Hydrometers are available at the PGA office for $205 + GST (to cover our costs). There are only five available, but more can be ordered if the demand is there! Come pick up your

potato hydrometer today!

The PGA Staff will again be participaing in the Chili Cook-Off during CornFest in Taber.

Come by for a taste of Chili & Fries on Friday, August 28th