January 2019 - 49

Collaboration, not competition, might be better policy
Anyone who has
UNITED POTATO
GROWERS OF
AMERICA
Buzz Shahan
Chief Operating
Officer
ever worn a headset
and sold fresh
potatoes against the
Idaho brand knows
all about facing that
challenge. Unequalled
for decades, the Idaho
Potato Commission
has promoted the
Idaho brand far
beyond anything seen
in the potato industry
anyplace else. Ask
anyone you run into anywhere in the U.S.
which state is known for potatoes and the
immediate response will be: " Idaho! "
With wonderful brand recognition and a
product that backs up all claims made about
it, is there something Idaho growers can do
to take better advantage of their product's
excellent market position?
The Idaho Potato Commission
represents the face of Idaho potato
growers in terms of economic policy
INDUSTRY NEWS
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TABS POTATOES IN 'TALKING PLANT' RESEARCH
Researchers at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and University of
Tennessee believe they can genetically
modify potato plants to detect potential
threats. Their findings could mean big news
for growers, as well as an unlikely entity: The
U.S. Department of Defense.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) could fund up
to $7.5 million to MIT and UT Institute of
Agriculture researchers to see if they can
modify plants to be sensors for battlefield
dangers, such as nerve gas and radiation.
Researchers also hope the long-term
effects of the study will aid growers, however.
" (The hope is) that advances gained
through this and other efforts in synthetic
agricultural biology will eventually result in
crops that can tell farmers exactly what,
where and when they have problems with
pests, water and nutrients in their fields, "
said Patricia McDaniels of the UTIA's
marketing and communications department.
Stewart said the potato plant was chosen
for this study because it is the easiest crop
plant for engineering both the main genome
Spudman * January 2019
49
and the one housed in chloroplasts.
" It's got all the engineering and growth
traits that will make for an effective 'talking
plant,' " he said. " Potato even makes a
convenient storage organ - the tuber -
which is the plant's battery. "
Per DARPA requirements, the initial
research will be conducted entirely in
contained facilities with all biosafety
features in place.
regarding their product. Whether intended
or not, the IPC's promotional efforts have
historically performed more as a long-term
approach than a short-term approach to
helping their growers achieve financial
success. In discussing economic policy,
John Maynard Keynes, the originator of
Keynesian economics, said, " Long run is
a misleading guide to current (economic)
affairs. In the long run we are all dead. " In
potato-market terms, Keynes' reference to
" current (economic) affairs " would refer to
the present market. With solid margins out
there to be rationally and fairly earned by
their exceptional brand, again, what can
Idaho growers and shippers do to make
this happen?
The answer lies in what is happening in
competing regions. What have they been
doing that allows them to pull up to twice the
freight differential for their growers from the
same markets into which Idaho sells?
First, growers in other regions keep
meticulously abreast of potato markets/
events coast to coast and within Canada,
Mexico, the Pacific Rim and the EU. This is
done through intense data tracking of current
supply/demand and price situations across
the potato-product spectrum.
Second, even though each region is
filled with fierce competitors and even
though regions themselves compete with
one another, each recognizes the value of
knowing what is happening within their region
and in other regions. This allows them to
collaborate on the many short-term issues
that uphold price. After all, it is price that
pays the bills.
Grower, shipper and sales organizations
announced periodically that within a certain
period of time, they would command a certain
percent share of the fresh-potato market.
(This gambit is still used as a ruse to gain
product for certain volume-based sellers.)
Today, after recognizing their naivete and
losing a lot of money, they have come to the
same conclusion: If you want to make money
raising fresh potatoes - because of the
nature of fresh produce markets and their
tight supply/demand balance - collaboration
among suppliers yields significantly better
results than taking fellow producers on in
hand-to-hand financial combat.
This economic reality has been recognized
not just in potatoes, but in lettuce, citrus,
tomatoes, peaches, pears and across the
range of fruits and vegetables, all with
excellent results.
With all that technology now offers in
information gathering and dissemination,
growers and sales organizations have learned
that utilizing this technology to work together
to balance the supply/demand/price equation
yields fair and sustainable profits every day
of every year.
January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2019
