b'providingboththelargestsurplus for 2021. After serious deliberation, Expo 2021, was painful economical-commoditypurchaseprogramin the Potato LEAF Board of Directors ly for NPC and organizationally forourindustryshistoryandthe decidedtonotconductaPotato theindustry.Regardless,thedeci-largest direct payment disaster relief IndustryLeadershipInstituteclass sionswereclearlytherightandprogramforgrowersinourindus- for 2021 given the health and logis- responsibleones.Thisindustryistrys history. ticalchallengessurroundingthe resilient and will come out on thepandemic. other side of this crisis even strongerWe believe these actions have kept than before. us in the game as consumer demand Additionally,NPCsExecutiveregains its strength both domestical- Committee announced that due to Although the impact of COVID con-lyandinternationally.Thoughwe D.C.government,congressional, tinues to ripple across the country,arent out of the woods yet, I think andfederalagencyrestrictions weknowtheseimmediatechal-thechallengesthatCOVIDforced regarding COVID-19, it moved the lengeswillnotbethelastcrisisupon us and our industrys response 2021 Potato D.C. Fly-In to a virtual faced by the industry. provide some optimism looking for- event. The meeting will now occurward. In short, we arent helpless to the week of Feb. 22-26 as originally Hopefully,thedecisiveactionswethiscrisisandtheclearstepswe scheduled and will also include the took over the past year followed bytook put us on a path to relief.NPC Annual Meeting, all in a virtual our cohesive disciplined pursuit offormat.themcanalsobeappliedtowardUnfortunately,COVIDiscontinu- whatever comes at us in the futureing to impact our industry as NPC The decision to make these changes, and with similar productive results.andourstatepartnersmakeplans as well as holding a virtual PotatoWhen you buy MinnesotaMinnesota Certifiedcertified seed potatoes, youre getting a history of high performance, high Seed Potatoesquality seed. Minnesota seed is grown on a wideFor your free copy of the Minnesotarange of soil types, from theCertified Seed Directory Call:rich black soils of the Red River Valley to the irrigated sands of Central Minnesota218-773-4956to the deep peat soils of East Central and Southern Minnesota. If you want aspecific variety, MINNESOTAwe can grow it. CERTIFIED SEED POTATO 2020DIRECTORYwww.mda.state.mn.us/potatoJANUARY 2021 POTATO GROWER 9'