Friends, colleagues gather at potato conference

Conference continues through Thursday

MOSES LAKE — People gathered at the 46th Annual Washington State Potato Conference and Trade Show reception last night to discuss business, view technology and socialize at the Grant County Fairgrounds.

Karen Bonaudi, assistant executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission said the trade show started a little slowly earlier in the day, but picked up in the afternoon. Bonaudi said she is pleased with the overall turnout for the conference and said the Spanish session earlier Tuesday was a success.

The trade show features booths pertaining to different facets of the potato industry and equipment such as tractors and fertilizers are on display.

Some booths featured a technological approach to potatoes. At the ABM Equipment booth, John Cassa explains an X-ray machine by Smiths Detection. The device uses Material Discrimination X-ray (MDX) to detect contaminants in cargo by chemical composition. At the show, the machine is shown detecting a golf ball and a golf ball fragment in a load of potatoes, highlighting the problem areas on the screen.

As a 30-year veteran of the potato industry, grower Jerry Gross of Marlin said potatoes are a daily part of his life and he enjoys coming to the conference to see friends and colleagues.

Peter Gross of Spokane likes the friendly atmosphere and said the important thing to learn is making one's business more efficient.

"If you can't make it efficient, it's not worth having. Efficiency is what pays the bills," he said.

A reception of catered food from Michael's on the Lake and live music followed the first day of the trade show. The conference continues through Thursday at several locations including the Kenny Ardell Pavilion at the Grant County Fairgrounds and the ATEC building at Big Bend Community College.