J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 POTATO GROWER 13 Turning Back The Clock A Look Back 25 Years Ago at Excerpts from The August 1994 Issue of The Valley Potato Grower Magazine Red River Valley Hosts Holland Potato Growers Red River Valley Extension Agent Duane ‘Sarge’ Preston and the Red River Valley Potato Growers Association (RRVPGA) hosted a group of about 40 individuals from Holland early in June as they toured the potato country in the Red River Valley. The Holland group included potato growers who grow seed potatoes for Wolf & Wolf B.V., a major seed potato producer in Holland. The group spent about two weeks in the United States, and also toured the potato country in Idaho and they visited New York City. Organized by Preston, the group toured potato farms in the Valley, machinery dealers, potato storage, and the USDA Potato Research Lab before being hosted for dinner at the RRVPGA Research Farm south of Grand Forks, North Dakota. A number of Red River Valley potato growers attended the event as well, including Neil and Corrie Jonk of Forest River, North Dakota, who are natives of Holland. The visitors enjoyed sharing some “Dutch talk” with the Jonks. In a brief program prior to dinner, Chuck Gunnerson, Chairman of the Board of the RRVPGA, welcomed the group. He, along with RRVPGA Promotions Director Kathy Johnson, briefed the visitors on the potato indus- try in the Valley. Sam Wolf, who facilitated the tour on behalf of Wolf & Wolf, also informed the Valley attendees of the purpose of the tour, and the goals and efforts of Wolf & Wolf. “My company exports potatoes to 84 countries,” Wolf said. “My grandfather started this company and we, therefore, have 91 years of experience in seed potatoes.” “Our company is in the process of merg- ing with another major seed company call ‘Agrico.’ We’re very excitied about this merger, If it goes through, we will have 40 percent of the potato seed mar- ket in the world, and we would like to share our experience with the United States. We believe there is good possibil- ity in the future of our company doing business with you, maybe not by importing seed potatoes because the United States does not have private plant breeder protection yet. But I look forward to working with some of you people down the road.” Wolf explained they do not export seed potatoes to the United States for reasons dealing with the fact that the United States does not have plant breeder pro- tection rights. Plant breeder rights were introduced in Holland in 1967, and this has helped build a strong potato seed market there. “The United States is now dependent on its universities to develop potato vari- eties,” he said. “I understand plant breeders rights has been introduced but have had problems going through Congress. Plant breeder protection has existed for seed potatoes in Canada for about 18 years. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the United States has its plant breeder protection in place.” Wolf believes plant breeder protection will be an advantage to the United States potato industry if and when implemented, stating that he’s seen great improvements to potato varieties in other countries that have established such rights. Wolf indicated his company plans to continue hosting tours to the United States every couple years, which gives the company’s seed growers an opportu- nity to learn about different cultural practices.