January 2015

There’s No Place Like Home By Bill Schaefer

I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that farming is hard work. It means long hours, working in all kinds of weather and not knowing if you’ll meet your return on investment. You’ve really got to love the farming life and all that it entails when you make that commitment.

I was reminded of a quote attributed to Aristotle, The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” while working on this month’s profile of the Wattenbarger family.

Deverle Wattenbarger wanted his three sons, Bart, Jared and Ryan, to pursue their own goals in life. At the same time, it was Deverle’s hope that one of his sons someday would take over the farm operation.

All three sons began careers away from the farm but eventually each son decided to return. Each one brought a different skill set back with their coming home to the family farm in Shelley, Idaho.

It’s Thanksgiving evening as I finish this column. There’s a certain indefinable quality of tranquility that I have come to treasure and enjoy to this holiday. Perhaps it’s only the calm before the ensuing storm of shopping chaos begins but I would rather believe that Thanksgiving represents that one day in the year, when we take an inventory of the past year’s harvest, financial and the non-financial, as we set our sights on 2015.

I hope the past year proved rewarding to everyone and you take the time to enjoy the coming holidays with your extended families.

I’ve been sitting in the editor’s chair at Spudman for five years now. During that time I have met, hundreds, if not thousands, of people involved in the potato community. Throughout that time Marnie Lawson, Spudman’s director of advertising, has been my co-pilot at POTATO EXPO and other conferences, helping me navigate the ins and outs of the potato industry, always with a smile, a laugh and razor sharp wit, through it all.

Well, Marnie has taken on a new job at Great American Media Services, and I want to welcome and introduce you to Andrea Shafer, the new advertising director for Spudman. If you’re attending POTATO EXPO 2015 please stop by our booth to say hello, meet Andrea and pick up some Spudman gear.