Potato Expo 2024 raises the roof in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — The National Potato Council is reporting a record-breaking year for its Potato Expo 2024, which drew 2,320 attendees and 216 exhibitors to the Austin Convention Center, Jan. 10-11.

“This is the first time we’ve seen so many potato people under one roof,” Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, told The Packer. “We’ve really created a flywheel with this show.”

For the last five years, NPC has been tweaking the show and its educational content based on grower feedback to deliver “what people care about most,” Quarles said. One change NPC has found particularly effective has been keeping all of the many educational sessions, as well as lunch, on the show floor to minimize coming and going, he said.

“This show happens at the right time. It’s the potato industry’s kickoff for the year,” said Quarles, who added that Potato Expo 2024 featured 40% more exhibitors and attracted 31% more attendees than the last time it was held in Austin.

Volm Cos. showcased its robotic case packer that puts small packs into RPCs (reusable plastic containers) so they’re display ready, said Marsha Pozza.

“It’s pretty exciting, as everybody is moving to smaller packs,” Pozza said. “The 10-pound bags aren’t the norm anymore.”

And with ongoing labor issues, automation is key.

“We’ll continue to see more and more automation,” said Pozza, adding that Volm’s robotic case packer has applications beyond potatoes, such as blueberry trays and more.

Pozza sees the expo’s value in terms of “meet and potatoes.”

“We’re here because Potato Expo is a show with a heavy focus on equipment, but also because it’s commodity specific,” she said. “We can see all of our potato customers from the U.S. and Canada at the same time.”

Ceres Imaging exhibited at Potato Expo 2024 to share more on its recently released Water Recommendations, a new solution that prescribes how much water to apply weekly for each irrigation zone with the aim of minimizing waste and maximizing grower profitability.

The new water feature combines custom crop coefficients derived from aerial imagery with evapotranspiration forecasts to calculate the optimal number of inches of water to use on a wide variety of crops.

The agtech company also shared details on its fixed-wing aerial imagery.

“With fixed-wing, we get images into the hands of growers quickly,” said Hunter Wakentin. “In ag, things are changing quickly, so [fast] turnaround is very important to growers who can then take immediate action.”

Fox Packaging demoed its Newtec Celox P Dual UHD, which it calls “the ultimate optical potato sorting machine.” It sorts potatoes by size, shape and quality in a single-stage process, eliminating the need for pre-grading and reducing manual labor, said Victoria Lopez. “People are looking for automation solutions for potatoes,” she added.

Bayer’s Jeffrey Baxter finds Potato Expo to be a who’s who of the industry.

“We’re at this show because everyone is here — growers, processors, distributors — everyone in the industry,” Baxter said. “It’s one of the better shows because it’s all-encompassing, with big processors like McCain and Simplot, who are important allies of the industry."

And it’s not just the U.S. market represented at Potato Expo, said Baxter, who added that this year’s expo drew a contingent of 55 Canadians to Austin.

Bayer featured its Velum Rise product, a fungicide/nematicide that is applied in-furrow, allowing growers to start the season with wide-spectrum protection against soil-borne threats.

“It’s so versatile for use with many crops, but there are lots of benefits in potatoes,” Baxter said of Velum Rise.

“We aim to be the supplier of the very best table potato, early and later seed variety. If we have a seed variety, we’ve vetted it,” said Harwin Bouwman of Kroeker Farms.

The Canada-based Kroeker has two early seed farms in Saskatchewan and a later seed farm in Manitoba.

“Our reputation for high quality table potatoes is because of our seed program,” said Kevin Nickel. “Seeds come first — there’s no chicken or the egg with potatoes.”

Syngenta previewed its Plinazolin technology for broad-spectrum pest control that is expected to begin rolling out with EPA approval later this year and be widely available in 2025. The effectiveness of Plinazolin technology is a “game-changer,” said Jeffrey Hopp.

“The economic outlook for potatoes is positive,” said David Magaña of Rabobank, pointing to a number of supporting factors including a decline in both inflation and interest rates.

But perhaps the biggest opportunity for U.S. potatoes is the Mexican market, Magaña said. Mexico, which resumed full access for U.S. potato exports to its country in May 2022, is currently the second-largest importer of U.S. potatoes, but Magaña sees Mexico surpassing the No. 1 importer, Canada, this year or no later than 2025.

An exchange rate that favors U.S. imports to Mexico has also improved the competitiveness of U.S. potatoes in the market, Magaña added.