Badger Common’Tater July 2020 Issue
WPVGA Navigates Uncharted Waters
An update on a few highlights for the potato and vegetable industry
Tamas Houlihan
By Tamas Houlihan, Executive Director, WPVGA
When the Wisconsin Department of Health Services issued the Safer at Home Order, on March 25, the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA), along with millions of others, was forced to navigate uncharted waters for the next three months.
As I write to you today, we are still discovering this changing new world. Amidst this vast sea of change, a lot has happened, and I would like to provide an update on a few of the highlights for the potato and vegetable industry.
Potato Planting Season Successful
While working remotely became the norm for millions of Americans, farmers and the agricultural industry continued to conduct business as usual, going about their essential duties of feeding the world.
Seed potatoes were still being shipped in March and Wisconsin growers hit the fields in April and continued to plant through the month of May. Most of the crop went into the ground in favorable conditions.
This was a change from the previous two years that were extremely cold and wet in April and May. And while this year’s May temperatures were cooler than normal, at least the crop was not two weeks behind schedule as has been the recent norm.
Time will tell how the growing season progresses, but all indications are we’re off to a great start.
