April 2022 - 25

A quiz in critical thinking
Mankind is
UNITED POTATO
GROWERS OF
AMERICA
Buzz Shahan
Chief Operating
Officer
forever searching to
understand how the
human brain does
what it does. Part of
that investigation is
an emerging focus
on critical thinking.
Critical thinking
is defined as the
rational analysis
of facts to form a
judgment. Every
time a new business
personality shows up people want to know
if that person is a critical thinker. If you're a
potato producer and want to know if you're a
critical thinker, this article will save you a lot
of time; you won't have to pore over a series
of books to find out. Answer all five of the
below questions correctly and not only are
you a critical thinker, but you almost certainly
run a successful potato-producing operation.
If you answer four correctly, you are an
above-average thinker, and your operation
likely shows it. Answer only three correctly,
and you're probably just hanging on. Two or
fewer and you need help.
The first three questions come from the
highest echelon of psychological evaluation
and are proven to determine if you think
critically. You might find this comforting: Only
50% of Harvard, MIT and Princeton students
answer the first three correctly. It is possible
that potato producers that answer the final
INDUSTRY NEWS
SIMPLOT AGREES TO
EXCLUSIVE ORE-IDA DEAL
The J.R. Simplot Company has made an
exclusive, multi-year agreement with Kraft
Heinz that names Simplot as the exclusive
manufacturer and supplier of Ore-Ida.
Simplot will take ownership of the
existing processing location in Ontario,
Oregon, near the Idaho border. Kraft Heinz
will continue to own the Ore-Ida brand.
The two sides entered into their
agreement on Feb. 22. It is scheduled to
become final later in the spring. It also
includes a clause that enables Simplot
to supply potatoes for Ore-Ida products
beginning in the 2023-24 growing season.
Spudman * April 2022
23
two correctly oversee successful operations
regardless of how they do on the first three.
This suggests that there are different kinds
of intelligence. To hold yourself accountable,
write down your answers as soon as they
come to you prior to looking them up.
Question 1. A ball-and-bat set sells for
$1.10. If the bat costs $1 more than the
ball, how much does the ball cost?
Question 2. If it takes five machines
5 minutes to make five widgets, how
long would it take 100 machines to make
100 widgets?
Question 3. In a lake there is a patch of lily
pads. Every day the patch doubles in size. If
it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the
entire lake, how long would it take for the
patch to cover half of the lake?
Question 4. Process-potato producers sell
their product by the ton or hundredweight.
Potato processors sell their product by
the pound. Retailers of processed-potato
products sell by the ounce. This is called
scaled valuation. What does failure to
understand scaled valuation across the
process-potato supply chain suggest about
process-potato producers' critical thinking
in terms of valuing their contribution to the
process-potato industry?
Question 5. All produce is priced according
to the supply/demand equilibrium. As a
potato producer, fresh or process: What is
the supply number that your region must not
exceed to assure a fair return on investment,
and what portion of that regional supply must
your farm not exceed?
And the answers:
1. 5 cents.
2. 5 minutes.
3. 47 days.
4. The failure of process-potato producers
to identify processor and retailer scaled
margins in contract negotiations may
understate raw product's value to the
process-potato industry.
5. Failure to attach a hard number to your
farm's portion of your region's balanced
supply means that you, and perhaps your
region, do not understand supply/demand
economics, the most critical aspect of
potato (vegetable) production.
April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2022
