Washington/Oregon Potato Conference Kicks Off Tuesday

The 2020 Washington/Oregon Potato Conference gets underway at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick Tuesday.  Chris Voigt, Executive Director for the Washington state Potato Commission said, as in years past production will be the main focus.

“How do we grow more food using fewer resources, how do we control different pests and diseases?  So we as a potato commission fund a lot of research on behalf of the growers.  And this is an opportunity for those researchers to come back and share their results.”

Voigt noted the local potato growers are very progressive and innovative, proactively taking the information they learn at the Conference and applying it in their fields.

Voigt added he’s very excited to hear from this year’s Keynote speaker, Amber Mac.  He noted she doesn’t come from the farm, but rather the tech sector.

“She’s going to be talking about, kind of the future.  You know I think there’s this fear out there that robots and automation is going to take over the world and just eliminate so many jobs.  She going to come at it with a different kind of perspective saying that ‘jobs are going to be there, they’re just going to change’.  So she’s going to be talking about how artificial intelligence and technology is going to be changing the job landscape.”

Voigt added they will have a host of cultivar workshops, classes in Spanish, and the 4^th annual Peel-Off scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.  Click Here to learn more about this year’s Potato Conference.

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