What prompted me to write this letter are two articles featured in the Sept. 30 issue of The Western Producer (Town’s dream auctioned away and Simplot’s success sprouts from spuds.)
The first story reported on the failure and eventual bankruptcy of the Lake Diefenbaker Potato Corporation. While Saskatchewan taxpayers may never know the true figures, it is safe to say that once again the NDP government has shown the public that it is best for politicians to stay out of anything as complicated as growing and processing spuds.
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I can hardly believe that a government that can’t fill a mere pothole on a highway would show much success at growing spuds. No pun intended, but in the eyes of experienced growers, the first step to a healthy plant is to cover all the gaps after seeding.
Ironically, the second article highlights the success of Jack Simplot, founder of the famous J.R. Simplot company. The agricultural empire was built by Mr. Simplot from the ground up, and not the other way around. Simplot has been involved in, and very successful at growing and marketing potatoes to outlets such as McDonalds.
I am surprised that such a success story was buried on page 55 while the failure of the Lake Diefenbaker Potato Corp. got coverage on page 3. Perhaps that is a reflection on our socialist mentality, and that we are more interested in failure than success.
The moral of my letter is simple. It is perhaps best to leave the business of growing spuds to those who have experience, capital and know how. And last but not least, a story on the success of growing spuds should not be buried too deep.
– John J. Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
