Spudman November/December 2022 - 4

TAKING STOCK
EDITOR'S LETTER
Another year
for the books
It has been quite a year. And it seems that agriculture as a whole is
saying this year after year as of late.
Potato exports to Mexico were a big win this year, after a notoriously
lengthy battle to make it happen. There continues
to be complications between chemical usage
in agriculture and environmental protections.
On that same note, significant federal funding
became available for climate-smart initiatives
related to agriculture. And when farmers
suddenly became a piece of the securities
exchange puzzle, the industry definitely took
notice (and vehemently spoke up).
On the farm level, this was all wrapped and topped with a drought
bow.
There was a trend across all potato-growing states this year -
delay, either in planting, plant growth or harvest. If states had a
nice planting season, harvest seemed to be the challenge. If planting
season was late or hit by unfavorable weather, then harvest seemed
to go more smoothly. But on either end of the season, the field
might be parched from uncharacteristically dry months.
This can be seen in this year's seed reports, which Spudman
collected from the major potato-growing states (Page 18). Drought
is more than the term du jour for farmers around the country, and
with water costs combined with other input costs, the frustration
can sometimes be palpable.
But there are some good things on the horizon. Oregon State
University just received a $50 million grant for research and
expanded farmer support for climate-smart practices (Page 14),
the next generation of potato researchers are tackling some of the
industry's most important challenges and working closely with
today's leading researchers (Page 34), and Potato Expo is right
around the corner. This year, Potato Expo caught the eye of some of
Food Network's biggest names, and these chefs will compete to put
our beloved spud in the celebrity spotlight it deserves.
Cheers to the tenacity of farmers and another year for the books.
Office 616-887-9008
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Managing Editor
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Human Resources dcarnes@greatamericanpublish.com
Editorial Board
Randy Hardy, Oakley Farms, Oakley, Idaho
Andy Jensen, Northwest Potato Research Consortium
Don Sklarczyk, Sklarczyk Seed Farms, Johannesburg, Mich.
Robert Thornton, Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.
The Magazine: Editorial and advertising offices at Great American
Publishing, P.O. Box 128, Sparta, MI 49345, Phone: 616-887-9008
SPUDMAN volume 60 number 8 (ISSN 0038-8661) is printed 8 times
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4
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