KENNEWICK — Potatoes took center stage last week in the Tri-Cities. 

“I want to welcome you to the largest potato conference in North America,” Washington Potato Commission Executive Director Chris Voigt told attendees at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference on Wednesday. “Last year we had over 3,000 attendees. This morning, I checked and we have about 260 more to break our record.”  

The conference filled both the Three Rivers Convention Center and the nearby Toyota Center. There were informational workshops on all the technical aspects of potato farming, from climate change to breeding to processing to pest and disease management. Participants also could gain credit toward pesticide certification in both English and Spanish.  

The bulk of the space, including a large section of the parking lot outside, was devoted to a trade show, featuring hundreds of vendors from all over the West in every area imaginable: heavy equipment, pest control, high-tech, banking and finance, irrigation and much more.  

One was Eagle-Idaho-based SoilTech Wireless, which presented a device called the Beacon, which is planted and harvested alongside the tubers and tracks temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and more. It can even identify bruising during transport, said engineer Dylan Collom. 

“It has an accelerometer inside,” Collom said. “It logs every time it moves, kind of like your phone does. (When there are) impacts, it’ll have a sharp spike, and we log all that.” 

Farms need more than just whiz-bang devices; they also need people. Farm labor contractors like Impact Staffing Solutions have had to roll with some punches in recent years, said Regional Sales manager Greg Gutierrez. The Washington-Oregon Potato Conference trade show gave Gutierrez and his team a chance to talk with clients about their needs and the process of meeting them.  

“A lot of these farmers and growers that are here have been clients for over 15 years,” Gutierrez said. “So, this is where it all starts. We visit, talk a little bit, see what their needs are going to be this year … We’ve got to figure it out together, not just put it on (the client) to figure out on their own.” 

Not everything was serious and industrial. The event also included the Flavor Chip Challenge, where attendees sampled and tried to identify different brands of potato chips, and a potato bar lunch served by board members from the various commissions and counsils. 

National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles brought attendees up to date on relations between the ag industry and a government that he said is increasingly out of touch with farmers. 

“The vast majority of (Congressional districts) are urban and suburban districts,” Quarles said. “We’re losing rural districts with every census. The country is moving more and more toward the cities, the urban centers … Remember, their food comes from a grocery store, it doesn’t come from farms. (Getting) them to care about passing a farm bill (is) an ongoing challenge.” 

Potatoes are one of the most important crops in America, Quarles said. 

“This is the size of the industry: $100 billion a year for the U.S. economy and over 700,000 jobs are created and sustained by what begins on America’s family potato farms.” 

For more information on the Washington Oregon Potato Conference, pick up a copy of the Basin Business Journal’s February edition, coming soon. 

    Attendees at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference check out some of the heavy equipment arrayed in the parking lot outside the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick on Wednesday. The three-day conference is the largest of its kind in North America, according to Washington Potato Commission Director Chris Voigt.
  

    New varieties of potato from the U.S. and Europe were on display last week at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference in Kennewick. The conference gave growers and industry professionals a chance to see the latest innovations in breeding, pest control and irrigation.