Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The Sweetpotato Collaborators met in Wilmington, NC in conjunction with the U.S. Sweet Potato Council, The National Clean Plant Network (sweetpotato) and the National Sweetpotato Advisory Committee made up primarily of growers and people in the sweetpotato industry.  The Conference had eight sponsors that included BASF, Black Gold, Helena, Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission, Mississippi Sweet Potato Council, NC Sweetpotato Commission, Simplot and Syngenta.  These sponsors are actively involved in the sweetpotato industry.  There were 45 presentations (oral or poster) total, with 5 M.S. student presentations and 14 PhD student presentations.  A CLEANSEED USDA grant update was given by Dr. Mark Shankle, and the multistate project process update was give by Dr. David Monks.  The group elected a new chair-elect and Dr. Katie Jennings completed her chair responsibilities.  Dr. Shaun Francis from University of Arkansas- Pine Bluff assumed the responsibilities of chair at the end of the meeting.  There was a lot of discussion on the topics presented.  State reports on past year's production acreage and issues, etc were given by representatives from most attending states.   

• The primary outcomes were graduate student training which could be considered workforce development for academia including research, teaching and Extension.  Workforce development was in the area of sweetpotato but has a broader impact as the participating graduate students may work in other areas in agriculture.
• The research shared will provide solutions to many of the production issues in sweetpotato.  The solutions will be shared in each of the sweetpotato states through Extension faculty and county agents.
• The National Sweetpotato Collaborators Variety/Clone Tests across the U.S. has and will lead to commercial releases of sweetpotato varieties for use by farmers.  Planning for the tests (ie locations, which clones to include) for the upcoming season occurred at this meeting.
• Dialogue on potential proposals and existing grant results were reported at the meeting. 

see attached report