Potato talk: Washington-Oregon Potato Conference highlights one of the Pacific Northwest’s greatest crops

The Pacific Northwest as a whole is known for agriculture in general with forestry, ranching and farming everywhere, and potatoes is a strong crop throughout the region, according to planners of the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference. “Idaho is the biggest (potato) production state, but Washington is close behind, and Oregon is a top-ten producing state,” said Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council and a speaker at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference set for Jan. 27-29. “(There’s) a huge amount of production in the Pacific Northwest. (It’s) very important to the potato industry.” Last year about 3,000 people came to the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference to learn about all aspects of potatoes. All three days, there’s a trade show with more than 260 exhibitors showing everything from heavy machinery, to seed, to engineering, to insurance and financial services. There will also be food and drink available at the trade show, said Tressa Radach, office manager of the Washington Potato Commission and the conference’s primary organizer.