06/13/06 World Potato Congress Farm Show

Promoters expect anywhere from ten to 30 thousand people will attend the World Potato Congress Farm Show near Wilder in August. Fields were planted several months ago so that visitors can see potato harvesting, corn harvests for silage and grain, hay mowing and baling along with irrigation systems and potato seed varieties. Promoter Mark Randal says they've got plenty of room for parking and exhibits. RANDAL "a very large tent building that will essentially provide the kind of exhibit space that you would find in a convention center, the ten by ten booths or multiples of and then there will be a lot of larger exhibits in 50 by 50 feet lots. There's a 75 acre plot with Shepody potatoes which will be harvested during the show but the University of Idaho's Mike Thornton is overseeing other potatoes fields as well. THORNTON "Total there's about 100 varieties on display and again we're working with a couple of companies that have European ties so a lot of these varieties will be European that most growers have not seen before." The demonstration farm show begins Thursday August 24th and runs through Saturday the 26th. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott