Monthly Program 2

HISTORY OF THE IDAHO POTATO
Why Idaho ? The correct combination of the elements?...
Idaho's unique environment provides nearly perfect growing conditions for potatoes. The soil, clear clean water, clean air and climate in Idaho make potatoes superior to any potato grown anywhere else.
Summer days along the Snake River Valley are sunny and warm, combined with Idaho 's cool nights provide ideal climate conditions for the growing and production of potatoes.
Idaho's scenic mountains collect snow throughout the winter months. In the spring, the snow melts and flows into large reservoirs both above and below ground. Water from the reservoirs are used to irrigate the potatoes using irrigation systems which can be programmed using the correct amount of water needed.
Lastly, Idaho farmers have generations of experience and knowledge of growing potatoes. Pioneering research to improve the soil, storage and processing have made them the world's research leaders.
Idaho has the world's most advanced storage research center and claims more environmentally controlled commercial storage facilities than any other growing region.
There may be similar growing areas in the world but none have the complete combination which Idaho has to grow the best potatoes on the market today.
In certain ways the mighty Snake River is the mother of Idaho 's potato industry. It has, through the centuries, transported and deposited much of the silt that farmers cultivate today in lower lying fields along the river course. It provides much of the water that makes possible the growing of a plant that needs a soil moisture of eighty percent for ideal growth. As it plunges a mile downwards in elevation along its course, the Snake generates electrical energy that makes pumping from deep wells possible, and most of the potato growing areas in the state lie contiguous to the Snake River Valley as it twists its way in a 550-mile arc across southern Idaho.
EARLY HISTORY
The first potatoes grown in Idaho were planted in northern Idaho by Rev. Henry Spaulding. It was a successful crop, but his missionary work was brought to an end by the Whitman massacre and the Spauldings were forced to leave in 1850.
Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 22, 1847. On July 24 a five-acre potato patch was plowed and seed potatoes planted. The first irrigation in Salt Lake Valley was for the benefit of the newly planted potatoes. A week later the potatoes were growing.
Certain pioneers were sent northward to settle other areas. One of these were Cache Valley . Some, still thinking they were in Utah , had actually crossed the border into Idaho and began to establish their farms there. One of these early settlers in Franklin was William Goforth Nelson. He recorded in the summer of 1850: "We all camped in our wagons the first summer, but we all got homes built by winter; these houses were built in the present meetinghouse lot in a fort. I spent the summer working on ditches, canton roads, and hauling poles and wood from the canyon. I raised thirty-three bushels of potatoes, which is all that was raised in Franklin that summer except for a few onions."
This is the first recorded planting of potatoes in Idaho in an area where the settlers remained and the crop is still grown to some extent today. The planting was accomplished three years before the Idaho Territory was organized.
The spread of potato agriculture in eastern Idaho was only a matter of time. Henry E. Jenkins was a freighter hauling a load of potatoes from Farmington, Utah to Blackfoot, Idaho . The recipient of the shipment was Judge Stephens, who was encouraged by the freighter to plant the potatoes believed to be the first planting in the Blackfoot area. More and more potatoes were planted and the Blackfoot area has grown now into one of the principal potato producing areas in Idaho .
Those first Idaho settlers were pioneers mentally as well as geographically because they had the initiative and willingness to better their conditions regardless of physical hardships and uncertain futures.
RUSSET BURBANK DEVELOPED
The famous Idaho potato, Russet Burbank , is known as being large size, white, mealy & delicious. It was developed by Luther Burbank, beginning in 1872, when he planted twenty-three seeds from an Early Rose parent plant. All produced tubers, but one was superior in yield and size. Originally smooth-skinned, the familiar netting is actually a mutant of the Burbank . It is more resistant to blight than the original.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The University of Idaho Research Experiment Station in Aberdeen has provided valuable service in helping the potato industry. First started in 1914, many different problems have been researched and solved there. Experiments have been carried out concerning distance between rows and plants, seed piece sizes, planting and harvesting equipment, storage facilities, diseases, irrigation practices, and research for new varieties.
POTATO PROCESSING
As people's habits and lifestyles have changed, the demand for processed potatoes has grown. Idaho 's potato industry has recognized and met this demand.
The earliest form of potato processing was probably drying potatoes to preserve them for future use. In Idaho , the first processing activity was the extraction of starch from potatoes closely followed by the production of potato flour and potato meal.
The Rogers Brothers Seed Company claims the first dehydration of potatoes for food use in Idaho . They indicate that they were producing potato flour in 1926 and drying diced potatoes in 1940. Military needs during World War II forced the development of techniques that gave birth to the modern potato processing industry in the Gem State as well as the rest of the world.
In 1942 Simplot produced dehydrated potatoes, using the same process as drying onions. R.T. French began producing potato granules for instant mashed potatoes in 1952.
The potato processing industry has evolved over the years until it has become possible to buy potatoes as frozen french fries, potato rounds, stuffed baked potatoes, shredded potato patties, hash browns, curly fries, seasoned fries, or mashed. Dehydrated potatoes come as flakes or granules for instant mashed, hash browns, diced for soups and stews, or sliced for au gratin, etc. There are processing plants for fozen products and those that are purely dehydration plants. Some operations have facilities for both types of processing.
One of the benefits of processing potatoes, aside from convenience to the consumer, is that it gives an opportunity to use the less than perfect potatoes, resulting in less waste.
IRRIGATION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
Irrigation plays a critical role in the growing and production of potatoes. The Carey Act of 1894 made it possible for more land to be opened up for agricultural use. Under this Act, the so-called public land states with desert lands were offered one million federal acres each, provided they would cause the granted lands to be irrigated.
Idaho benefited from the Carey Act far more than did any other state. About 60% of all lands irrigated in the United States under the Carey Act are in Idaho . Over the period of forty years, the state of Idaho received 618,000 acres of previously desert, arid land. The overall benefit from the construction of dams and canals, the settlement of farms, the birth of towns and cities and the production of crops on the economy of Idaho is impossible to measure. Carey Act reclamation projects have put substantial tracts of land under cultivation that became family farms and were utilized to grow Idaho potatoes. Without this one piece of legislation, many of today's potato fields would be range for cattle and sheep.
High-lift pumping opened up even more of the desert lands to farming. Several projects were developed to bring water from the Snake River . The water was pumped 500 to 725 feet up from the river.
The combination of private citizens and private lending institutions expanding the agricultural economy of Idaho by adding significantly to potato production must certainly be included in the history of the industry. It is one of the noteworthy eras in the story of the potato in Idaho , an era, however, that belonged to the past when there was plentiful desert entry land, cheap energy and lower development costs.
Below is information about the Idaho Potato Museum located in Blackfoot, Idaho .
Idaho Potato Museum
"http://www.roadsideamerica.com/about/review"
Blackfoot, "http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/id"
The image of King Spud grins from signs on the outskirts of Blackfoot. While any town in this tater-rich region could claim global preeminence, Blackfoot grabs it with its World Potato Expo, a celebration of the lowly spud and all its varied uses.
At the World Potato Exposition, you can "Learn about the agricultural, historical, social, scientific, educational, artistic and economic aspects of the world-famous Idaho potato." A giant chunk of Idaho gold -- the world's largest Styrofoam potato -- lies next to the parking lot, like something that fell off a flatbed truck on a novelty postcard (you can see the "http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/IDDRIpotato.html").
There are displays on how the industry grew in Idaho , and exhibits of farming and sorting equipment.
A tribute to Mr. Potato Head sits behind glass.
You can touch the sleeve of the burlap tuxedo worn by Idaho 's first Potato Commissioner. In 1998, they added a burlap rodeo queen outfit, made of potato sack, with vest and skirt.
There's a speculative section on how the "Potato In Space" might fare.
Perhaps most amazing: the world's largest potato chip, a 25x14-inch Pringle created in 1991 by Proctor & Gamble engineers. This pizza-sized potato snack is in its own display case.
During the summer, the Gift Shop sells potato fudge, potato ice cream and potato cookies. The free baked potato once given to visitors ("Free 'Taters For Out-Of-Staters") now includes a footnote: "* with $3 admission."
"http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/OKBEAchip.html"
One more thing that I wanted to add - In the September 27th, 2009, Sunday paper of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, there was an article in the Business and Farm section titled 'Growers looking for tater to wow McDonald's'.
Briefly, what the article was talking about is that potato farmers, researchers and industry representatives are looking for a new variety of potato for McDonald's french fries. McDonald's still relies on the Russet Burbank for many of its fries, even though this 130 year old variety takes a long time to mature, gulps water, and falls victim to rots and other diseases, meaning farmers must douse it in chemicals. Socially conscious investors want McDonald's to help cut pesticides to protect the environment and farm-workers' health. But coming up with another variety of potato is no easy feat. The latest variety that McDonald's tested, the Premier Russet, has a pedigree that resembles that of a thorough-bred race horse, with ancestors like the buff-skinned Penobscot of Maine . The company (McDonald's), decided it was an also-ran (meaning, I guess, that it was too costly?)
In March, three activist investor groups won an agreement from McDonald's to promote best practices to cut pesticide use by its American potato suppliers. So far, the groups say the company is doing a "great job" adhering to its commitments. McDonald's agricultural products director, Mitch Smith, says he's satisfied growers are already working efficiently and sustainably, largely because wasteful water or chemical practices dent their profits. Just now, McDonald's is scrutinizing the Bannock Russet, a 10-year-old potato variety bred originally in Idaho that isn't susceptible to most diseases as Russet Burbanks . "If we can find a variety that does that, with less inputs, water or whatever, that's something we're looking for," Smith said. "To date, there are not a lot of varieties that perform consistently enough."
This concludes my program on the Idaho potato.
Dean Ann Smith