About - Potato Growers Association

About the Association

Kurt "Spud" Williger, Chairman - Champion, Neb.

"Talk to me about hail insurance, hilling, center-pivot irrigation, black rot, pink rot, Fusarium dry rot, soft rot, black dot, the California Democrat Party, and Russet Burbank vs. Ranger Russet vs. Umatilla Russet"

Cell (308) 856-9776

Board of Directors 2004-2005

Name	Office / District	Town	Grows
Kurt Williger	Chairman, Dist. 6	Champion, Neb.
Vern Albaugh	Dist. 4	Tulelake, Calif.	Norkotah, Burbank, Ranger; grain, alfalfa
Kent Jeppesen	Vice Chairman, Dist. 1	Rigby, Idaho	Commercial and seed, about 1,800 ac.
Rich Sorensen	Secretary/Treasurer, Dist. 2	Aberdeen, Idaho	Processing Burbanks and Rangers
Shirley Bidegaray	Dist. 1	Ashton, Idaho	Certified seed (Bidegaray Seed Farms)
Brett Nielson	Dist. 2	American Falls, Idaho	Fresh and processing, wheat
Tom Haugen	Dist. 3	Othello, Wash.	Processing, sweet corn
Gordon Van Wyk	Dist. 3	Hermiston, Ore.	Fresh and processing, onions
Jim Kalina	Dist. 4	Merrill, Ore.	Fresh russets, grain
Paul Gonzales	Dist. 5	Monte Vista, Colo.	Fresh market
Ted Lindquist	Dist. 5	Manhattan, Mont.	Certified seed
Lonnie Pfeifer	Dist. 6	Hemingford, Neb.	Chipping potatoes, about 1,100 ac.
Dennis Moe	Associate member rep (non-voting)	Burley, Idaho	Fertilizer dealer
Lyle Gee	Past Chairman (ex officio)	St. Anthony, Idaho	Seed and commercial

Elections. Directors serve 3 year terms and the board elects its officers each February. Up at the annual meeting Feb. 15-17: District 2 (Rich Sorensen, running again) and District 4 (Jim Kalina, not running). Nominations must reach the office by Friday, Jan. 14, 2005.

Staff

Dale Hokanson, Executive Director, dale@pgaw.org. Farmed near Shelley before 1996.
Linda Stucki, Office Manager, linda@pgaw.org. Membership and dues, The Spud Line, trade show booths and the web site.
Mark Ochoa, Field Representative, Columbia Basin field office in Othello. Office (509) 555-0163, cell (509) 555-0171, mark@pgaw.org
Janet Price, Bookkeeper, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Committees 2004-2005

Committee	Chair	Latest
Seed	Shirley Bidegaray	Seed grower directory in the January Spud Line (41 growers in 2004)
Water and Legislative	Brett Nielson	Oct. 5 mtg. on groundwater curtailment, Cassia County Fairgrounds, Burley. About 60 came.
Research and Variety Trials	Tom Haugen	Field days at Othello July 22 (58 came), Aberdeen Aug. 5 (86) and Rigby Aug. 19 (41). 2004 numbers on Trials
Processor Contracts	Rich Sorensen	No 2005 offers from the plants yet. Conf. call Nov. 9, reports to the board Nov. 16.
Trade Show	Dennis Moe and Linda Stucki	70 of 96 booths sold as of Oct. 28. Booth info
Scholarship	Lyle Gee	June 11 Spud Classic raised $6,400. Applications due March 1.
Bylaws	Jim Kalina	Nothing proposed for 2005 as of Oct. 28. Changes for Feb. have to be in the December Spud Line, deadline Fri. Dec. 10.

Districts

District	Towns	Grower members 2004
1 - Upper Snake	Rexburg, St. Anthony, Ashton, Rigby, Idaho Falls, Driggs	168
2 - Southeast / Magic Valley	Blackfoot, Shelley, Aberdeen, American Falls, Burley, Rupert, Twin Falls	229
3 - Columbia Basin	Moses Lake, Othello, Quincy, Pasco, Wash.; Hermiston, Boardman, Ore.	124
4 - Klamath	Klamath Falls, Merrill, Malin, Ore.; Tulelake, Calif.	41
5 - Mountain	Montana, Utah, Wyoming; Monte Vista and Center in the San Luis Valley, Colo.	54
6 - Nebraska	Champion, Imperial, Grant; Alliance, Hemingford	21
Total		637

History

Tues., March 14, 1961 - 27 growers from around Idaho Falls and Rexburg met at the Grange hall in Rigby and organized the association. Orval Jeppesen of Rigby was elected chairman and dues were set at $10.
Feb. 1962 - First annual meeting, at the Hotel Bonneville in Idaho Falls. About 150 growers came.
1968 - Columbia Basin growers came in as District 3.
1976 - Klamath growers came in as District 4.
1984 - District 5 added for Montana, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.
1993 - Nebraska growers from Chase, Perkins and Box Butte counties came in as District 6.
1996 - Dale Hokanson hired as the first full-time executive director.

Past Chairmen

Years	Chairman	Town
1961-1964	Orval Jeppesen	Rigby
1964-1967	Harold Wadsworth	Idaho Falls
1967-1971	Leon Brinkerhoff	Rexburg
1971-1974	Clyde Haugen	Othello
1974-1978	Ray Moffat	Aberdeen
1978-1981	Willard Tanaka	Moses Lake
1981-1985	Glen Bidegaray	Ashton
1985-1988	Dean Kunz	Shelley
1988-1991	Marvin Ostler	Burley
1991-1995	Bill Van Wyk	Hermiston
1995-1998	Ken Stoddard	Rupert
1998-2001	LaRae Christensen	St. Anthony
2001-2004	Lyle Gee	St. Anthony
2004-	Kurt Williger	Champion

Kent Jeppesen is Orval's grandson, Tom Haugen is Clyde's son and Gordon Van Wyk is Bill's son. Shirley Bidegaray farms with Glen's son Mike at Ashton. LaRae Christensen was the first woman to chair the association.