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T HE P O T A T O M I N U T ETHE PGA TEAMThe Staff of the PGA is dedicated to providing valuable information and services to our members. Over thepast months we have grown stronger as a team, relying on our collective skills to get the job done! Here is aquick run down of who we are, who does what, and who is best to answer your inquiry!Deb Hart - Seed Coordinator(written by Terence)Deb has been with the PGA in her current position since May, 2004. As our most senior (OLDEST lol)staff member, and representative of the PGA on the national and international scene, Deb’sknowledge of the seed sector is invaluable to her fellow staff members. This respect is mirrored by herfellow AB and Canadian committee members. Stationed in the Edmonton office at CDC North, Debworks closely with the seed growers, the CFIA and Trade Missions to ensure that PGA seed growershave the opportunity to market their product in both the national and international arenas. Deb’swillingness to assist all of us in our day-to-day jobs, and fill in wherever need be, shows her completededication to the PGA! If someone is looking to learn about our industry, and has an affinity for redwine, then pull up a chair and enjoy Deb’s wealth of knowledge and her willingness to share!Patti Lamb - Assistant to the Executive Director (written by Deb)The title of Executive Assistant is a very small part of Patti’s role with the Potato Growers of Alberta.In fact, Patti is the glue that holds us together and is the PGA go-to person! Patti started her careerwith the PGA on October 16, 2006, just in time to complete the final details for the AGM and receivethe harvest reports – coincidence? I think not!! Her patience level and organization skills are envied.She can answer the phone and redirect calls, edit documents, greet and help growers in the office,plan events, prepare PGA licenses, and make coffee, all at the same time – some days are better thanothers!! She also takes care of our Board of Directors’ needs, including distributing meeting packages andeven preparing the occasional lunch (hmmm)! Well done and thanks Patti. We’d be lost without you!Wendy Arnold - Financial & Communications Administrator(written by Patti)Wendy joined the PGA in May, 2011 as the Finance/Accounts Assistant, but due to her strong workethic and inability to leave anything half done, she was the perfect fit to replace Margie when sheretired in September! Wendy is an accountant first, a communicator second, but as a very quick studyshe has also transitioned well into Office Manager, IT Manager and Rodent Manager (oh wait, she’sdefinitely not the mouse girl!) Wendy loves good food and puts on her caterer’s hat when meals areplanned or Cornfest approaches!! Wendy is very organized, however this comes at the sacrifice of aforest or two … she’s always taking notes!! (Watch for it, people!!) Wendy’s door is always open andkeeps everyone on track .. we are blessed to have her commitment and knowledge at the PGA!Terence Hochstein - Technical Director(written by Cindy)As the lone male in the office, Terence has to have a great sense of humour, but he also acts as theoverprotective brother to “his girls”. He started in July, 2011 and hasn’t stopped learning since; oftenseen in the office late at night or on weekends absorbing as much as he can. PGA members can relyon Terence’s knowledge for chemical questions, safety regulations, planting techniques, harvest andstorage, government legislation, PGA research projects, and if he can’t answer your question, he willfind someone who can. (Just don’t ask him about growing spuds inside!) He also represents the PGAon Provincial and National Boards, where he continues to gain valuable knowledge. Mr. “Fussy- stein”can also be seen rearranging the back storage area, repacking the trailer, redoing his presentations,but we just know that’s all part of what makes him the dependable Tech Director that he is!2Cindy Fletcher - Accounts Clerk & Promotions Coordinator (written by Wendy )Cindy stated with the PGA in August, 2011 part-time as the Accounts Clerk. Her job at the PGAconsists of the day to day AR and AP, and she also helps administer the Crop Advance program. Shehas proven to be very detailed and is the spread sheet Queen, and as a result her duties now extendto managing planting and harvest reports, processor reports, and combining that info in to the statsrequired for negotiations and government departments. On top of that, Cindy does a lot of thesearching out and purchasing of promotional items, and she registers and attends trade shows onbehalf of the PGA. She truly has a “gift of gab”, loves to talk to consumers and students about potatoes,so we extended her job title to reflect this skill. Finally, Cindy’s day is not complete if she doesn’tmake at least one of her co-workers laugh, as entertaining people is the best part of her job!!

T HE P O T A T O M I N U T EPCN FREE!It’s official! Some of you may have alreadyheard the news that Northbank has beendeclared PCN free and their last suspect fieldhas been deregulated. As documented in aletter to Northbank Potato Farms from CFIAdated February 13th; “CFIA has concluded twointensive soil sampling and testing surveys andone bioassay soil sampling and testing surveyon the (suspect) parcel of land and PCN was notdetected. Effective immediately, the parcel ofland has been deregulated by the CanadianFood Inspection Agency and all regulatorycontrols in regards to PCN have been lifted offthis land. Potatoes from this field are eligiblefor seed potato certification and thus qualify formovement both domestically andinternationally.Northbank Potato Farms has been dealing withthe notion of PCN in their suspect field sinceNovember, 2007. The PGA congratulatesErnie and Cecil on their great news!AREA MEETINGSNorth March 20th - Leduc- Royal Executive InnStarts with dinner at 5:30 pmSouth March 26th - Taber - Heritage InnStarts with breakfast at 7:30 amThe agendas are still tentative, but will include...Farm Implement Advisory Group (North & South)- a Government agency that helps to protectfarmers from false claims about equipment- (South) Dr. Ron Howard, Dr. Michael Harding,and Dr. Larry Kawchuk - How to manage Pink Rotand Late Blight from seed to harvest.Watch the website and Friday Fax for more infoONLINE BANKINGWhile the process is not a quick one; with all thepaperwork to fill out, and approvals to finalize,we have continued to make some headway thismonth which will allow our members andcustomers to pay their PGA invoices online.Currently, ATB Financial customers can pay usthis way, and on March 26th we will be set upwith Scotia Bank for the same. We are hopingto have RBC, CIBC, and TD on board by the endof April. While this is not in time for the March15th due date for the first installment of seedlevies, we anticipate that we will be set up intime for when the 2nd installments are due.SERENDIPITYA word that means a “happy accident”,specifically the accident of finding something useful whilenot specifically searching for it. This month John Buyks ofUpper Green Farms provided some spud samples thatwhere delivered in a “Tater Tote”, a box that wasdeveloped by the PGA when the office was in Calgary. It’spurpose back then was to advise the public of the best wayto store potatoes, by providing this useful tool that wasdistributed through retail stores. Now, the staff was notaware that such a box did exist (even though we had onein the office this whole time with old pictures in it) butthen came an email request from “Carol, Jane Consumer”!3“The cardboard box is about the size of 10 lbs. of potatoesand has a cute "potato miss" drawing on the side. ThePotato Growers of Alberta, complete with address, is printedon the sides of the box. It has air holes (indentations forpicking up the box) and a flap lock lid. It is very useful and Iwould so like to get another one. No ordinary cardboardbox is as perfect for what the Tater Tote (this is the nameon the box) does...stores potatoes in the dark, with ventilation.As I mentioned, I've had mine for years, like maybefive. It came along with the purchase of Alberta potatoesfrom the Co-op.”Best...CarolJohn was able to hook us upwith some of these totes, so“happily” we can send Carol areplacement. Serendipity!

Biosecurity Program InformationT HE P O T A T O M I N U T EThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in collaboration with Agriculture andAgri-Food Canada (AAFC), the Canadian Potato Council (CPC) of the CanadianHorticultural Council (CHC), the potato industry sector organizations, and provincialDepartments of Agriculture, initiated the development of a voluntary National Farm-LevelBiosecurity Standard and producer guidance document for potato growers. The objective of thestandard is to provide potato producers with a nationally consistentproactive approach to preventing and managing the spread of diseases and pests through goodbiosecurity practices.It is recognized that Canadian potato growers have a long-standing and successfulpractice of implementing proactive biosecurity measures on their farms. However, a moreintegrated systematic approach along the production continuum within the potatoindustry, as well as across the agri-commodity sectors, in both domestic and internationalmovements of products, is desirable.The National Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard represents a set of measures thatfocuses on excluding, containing, and/or managing pests and diseases at the farm level. Thisapproach provides protection from pests and diseases to Canada's potato industry at the farmlevel, regionally, nationally, and internationally.The foundation of this biosecurity standard is guided by scientific information, producer-levelconsultation, and a detailed analysis of existing farm-level programs. The review of these keyelements provided information on best-management practices and the current state ofbiosecurity implementation on potato-producing farms in Canada.This National Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard provides a framework for thedevelopment of individual farm biosecurity plans or the enhancement of existing farmlevel programs, such as the following: CanadaGAP, Integrated Pest Management Survey,Environmental Farm Plans, Safe Quality Food 2000, and other regional or provincial programs.Each licensed grower in Alberta will be receiving a package in the mail with a copy of theStandard for your reference.If you have any questions, pleasecontact Deb Hart by calling780-415-2305.5

The Potato Growers of Alberta is a Sustaining Member of the Potato Association of America, and through thismembership we receive information relevant to the industry. Below are two ON-LINE PRESENTATIONS by Dr.Amy Charkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison which you may find of interest.Early Generation Seed Potato ProductionThis presentation will help consultants, growers, and other practitioners understand the fundamentals of earlygeneration seed potato production, from tissue culture to mini-tuber production. Early generation potatoproduction relies on the development of disease-free tissue culture plantlet banks and the careful production ofmini-tubers, which includes close monitoring of the crop for pests, diseases, and variety mixtures. By the end ofthe presentation, viewers should understand the process of producing a large crop of potatotubers from a single disease-tested tissue culture plantlet and should be able to use this knowledge to helpevaluate the health of a seed potato crop.http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/edcenter/seminars/Potato/EarlyGeneration/Soft Rot and Blackleg Diseases of PotatoThis presentation will help consultants, growers, and other practitioners control bacterialblackleg, soft rot, and stem rot in potato by providing information on how to interferewith these diseases at planting, during the growing season and at harvest. Somefundamentals of the biology and ecology of these bacterial pathogens that are relatedto the control of these diseases is also presented. There are no curative treatments forthese bacterial diseases and no resistant potato varieties, so appropriate productionpractices are required to combat losses faced by these diseases. By the end of thepresentation should understand why the recommended cultural practices work to controlthese diseases.http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/edcenter/seminars/Potato/SoftRot/March 1st is the last day for Ag Expo at Lethbridge Exhibition Park. A big thank you to ourgenerous Growers and Packer/Dealers for donating samples of their potatoes for our booth display.LITTLE POTATO COMPANYBPS LTD.HALMA’S VEGETABLE FARMThank you as well to the growers who volunteered to man the booth and represent the PGAAlberta Ypma, Art Hazelhoff, Rob Oudman, Laus Stiekema,Jorgen Rozendaal, Bill Tamminga, Scott Gillespie, EdwinCamps, John Mans, Ed Vandenberg, John Vossebelt, PeterKampar, Jaap Remijn, Arjan Woordman, and John Bareman!And, of course, FRITO LAY and OLD DUTCH for the donation ofpotato chips for our hand out.ONCE AGAIN WE GAVE AWAY THE ENTIRE 2000 BAGS!6

PGA Industry CalendarA friendly reminder…..we invite ourIndustry Associates to add their event toour Industry Calendar on our website.It’s simple. Go towww.albertapotatoes.caClick “Industry calendar” on the right,select “submit an event” at the top of thenext screen, fill in the form, send it off,and, if appropriate, we will be sure itis seen on our calendar.PGA Hoodies have arrivedIf you volunteered for AG Expo, you havealready received a free hoodie as athank you for your time. If you didn’t,but would like your own, they are only$25.00 (including GST)and come in a variety ofcolours, either pull overor zip up. Come on in tothe PGA office and checkthem out!LOOKING FOR:· Roller grading table (approx. 8—12 ft. long)· 1 or 2 row 3pt potato tuber planter(cup or hand fill)Contact: John Mans @ (403) 824-3585or leave a message.RemembertoweargreenonMarch 17th!As you probably are all aware by now, the program that we commonly refer to asCanadaGap is now operating as CanAgPlus. It is still part of the CanadianHorticultural Council, but will be operating as a separate, not-for-profit entity.Along with the change in name also comes another round of changes in ourmanuals. We are now Version 6.1 effective April 1 st , 2013. Two more trees andanother gallon of ink seems to be the norm when it comes to this program lately.I have read through the new version and I am going to go out on a limb here andmake a couple of recommendations to you.1) If you have already completed your audit this past fall or in January then Iwould suggest one of two options:* If you like to have annual binders then you must print each new versionas it comes along.* Print only the changes, keeping in mind that you must have a currentversion on hand when you get your 4 year audit.2) If you are having your audit this year, then you must reprint the new versionand have it complete for your upcoming audit.Along with these changes comes another important point that everyone must beaware of. Your farming operation will now be assessed a $50.00 annual fee to bea part of the On Farm Food Safety Program. This was put into place as a way tomake the program self-sufficient and not have to rely on CHC funding to operate.With the change to CanAgPlus, there will be a new Advisory Board formed fromacross Canada to make suggestions on ways to administer and improve theprogram. The Board and staff have completed the necessary paperwork in hopesthat I will be nominated to this board to represent our growers.If you have any questions, please contact me.Terence6008 46 AvenueTaber, AB T1G 2B1Phone: 403-223-2262Fax: 403-223-2268E-mail: pga@albertapotatoes.caThe PGA assumes no responsibility for any errors in the information provided, nor assumes anyliability for any damages incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use andapplication of any of the contents of The Potato Minute. Unless otherwise noted on an individualdocument, the PGA grants users permission to reproduce and distribute information in thePotato Minute as long as the contents remain unaltered and as long as it is noted that thecontents have been made available by the PGA.7