November 3, 2017
CapitalPress.com
3
Meet the makers of Idaho’s biggest potatoes
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
Craft brewers aim to
revive public hop breeding
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Craft brewers hope to give
private hop breeders some
more competition by funding
a USDA-administered public
breeding program based in Or-
egon.
The goal is to develop new
public hop cultivars that are
resistant to common fungal
diseases and can be cultivated
without licensing agreements
by farmers in the Northwest
and elsewhere.
In recent years, the trend
has increasingly been for new
varieties to be patented by pri-
vate breeders, said Michelle
Palacios, administrator of the
Oregon Hop Commission.
“We’re seeing the public
varieties become less and less
competitive,” Palacios said.
Private breeders often want
to closely control distribution
of their hop cultivars, so their
agreements with farmers are
similar to contract production,
said Fred Geschwill, a farm-
er near Woodburn, Ore., and
president of the Hop Research
Council.
“Their licensing agree-
ments are very tight,”
Geschwill said. “I grow it, give
it back to them, then they sell it
to the marketplace.”
Private breeders can bet-
ter regulate supply and de-
mand under this scenario,
but farmers have less control
over planting decisions and
brewers have fewer suppliers
competing for their business,
he said.
While growers can still
turn to traditional public culti-
vars, some of them have been
losing their resistance to pow-
dery mildew and other diseas-
es over time.
For example, Cascade aro-
ma hops have long been an
industry staple but now they’re
getting “long in the tooth,”
said Chuck Skypeck, techni-
cal brewing projects manager
with the Brewers Association,
which will contribute an undis-
closed sum to public breeding
over five years.
“You can’t live on your
good graces forever. You need
to keep things in the pipeline,”
said Skypeck.
As public funding for hop
breeding has dried up in recent
decades, the U.S. brewing in-
dustry has seen a resurgence
— from fewer than 100 brew-
eries in the 1970s, the number
is expected to reach 6,000 by
the end of 2017, he said.
“That
landscape
has
changed,” he said.
Craft breweries don’t just
need hops to impart bitterness,
they rely on aroma varieties
to create unique flavors that
differentiate their brands, Sky-
peck said.
Unless they have desirable
agronomic qualities and dis-
ease resistance, though, even
the tastiest hops won’t gain
traction on the farm, he said.
There currently isn’t a reli-
able mechanism for new hop
varieties to be tested by brew-
ers and growers, Skypeck said.
Aside from providing fund-
ing to USDA for breeding, the
Brewers Association plans to
form an advisor panel with
members from both industries
to guide research, he said. Tri-
als of potential cultivars will
also be studied in breweries
and on farms.
“There are usually a lot
more misses than there are
hits,” Skypeck said of the
breeding process.
Money from the Brewers
Association will pay for one
post-doctoral breeder position
as well as a technician, said
Ryan Hayes, a geneticist with
USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service. The hiring process
has already begun for the
post-doctoral position.
Once the initial five-year
deal with USDA expires, the
Brewers Association can enter
into another agreement with
the agency, he said.
Cultivars suited to moist
Western Oregon may also be
successful in New York and
other regions where hop pro-
duction is seeing a revival, said
Geschwill.
As long as they source a
certain portion of their ingre-
dients from within New York,
for example, farmers in that
state can launch on-site brew-
eries, he said.
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Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
Hops are cut in preparation for harvest. Craft brewers are funding
public hop breeding under a program administered by USDA.
WEISER, Idaho — Chris
and Sharolyn Schofield have
carved a unique niche in the
art world — making colossal
sculptures of Idaho Russet
Burbank potatoes.
Though the Weiser cou-
ple has thus far avoided the
spotlight, their creations are
recognized nationwide.
Tens of thousands of on-
lookers witness the dropping
of their giant, glowing pota-
to in downtown Boise each
New Year’s Eve. And the
6-ton spud they created for
the Idaho Potato Commis-
sion’s Great Big Idaho Pota-
to Truck has traveled about
150,000 miles, visiting 7,200
cities while promoting the
Courtesy of Sharolyn Schofield
Idaho brand.
Chris and Sharolyn Schofield created a 6-ton spud for the Idaho Potato Commission’s Great Big
The Schofields — found- Idaho Potato Truck. It has traveled about 150,000 miles, visiting 7,200 cities.
ers of Schofield Design —
are building their fourth giant
vibrations and even boot
potato. It is a replacement for
prints made by NASA astro-
the IPC’s original oversized
nauts who stood on it during
traveling tuber. The IPC in-
a parade. The Schofields
troduced the truck in 2011 to
celebrate its 75th anniversa-
made a repair kit and trained
ry, planning on a single tour
the truck’s crew to make on-
but keeping it on the road
the-road fixes. They give the
ever since, based on its pop-
potato a major touch-up fol-
ularity.
lowing each national trek.
IPC President and CEO
“In the beginning, it was
Frank Muir initially worried
just another job, but it’s been
the truck would be “hokey” if
six years and it’s got a special
the potato wasn’t convincing.
place in our family,” Chris
Instead, Muir believes it’s
said. “We have our heart and
become part of “American
soul in this one, and when we
pop culture.” He said peo-
see it go, we’re sad.”
ple often drive hours for the
For the New Year’s Eve
chance to see the truck.
Potato drop, the Schofields
“One of the testaments
created a low-budget foam
to their ability to create au-
model, which they later re-
thentic art is that the No.
placed with a fiberglass ver-
1 question wherever the
sion for greater longevity.
truck drives is, ‘Is it real?’”
IPC’s next potato will
Muir said. “The fact that
also be made of fiberglass,
people would even think a
cutting out about half the
12,000-pound potato is real
weight.
is amazing.”
They’re taking measure-
Sharolyn is a certified
ments from the original po-
Courtesy of Sharolyn Schofield
structural welder. Chris Chris and Sharolyn Schofield in front of the giant potato they built for
tato so the new spud will
grew up in the construction the Idaho Potato Commission’s Great Big Idaho Potato Truck. The
fit perfectly into a square
trade and has taken sculpt- Weiser, Idaho, couple is building a replacement potato for the truck.
frame, mounted on springs,
ing classes. He’s experienced
that Sharolyn designed and
A hidden door at the front welded to affix the spud to
in building indoor climb- ized trough to make the rus-
ing walls and used a simi- set “skin,” used concrete dye of the potato allows the truck the truck’s flatbed. Special
lar construction approach for color and protected the crew to access the interior for LED lighting on the truck
storage.
to make IPC’s first potato. sculpture with a sealant.
will illuminate the new spud
Over the years, the potato during night parades. The
“We’re pretty critical of
The Schofields took the best
features from several large our projects,” Sharolyn said. has sustained damage from potato should be finished
Idaho spuds Muir sent them “We want things to look just overhanging branches, fre- by March, in time for the
quent cracks caused by road truck’s next tour.
to make a composite design. right.”
Based on their sketch,
they fabricated metal ribs,
which they welded together
and covered with plywood,
and then foam, which Chris
cut into a potato shape.
They then covered the
exterior with a thin layer
of polymerized concrete.
They developed a special-
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