A 2007 Perspective On Potatoes

Potato growers in the early 1930s were wrestling with the economic collapse of the Great Depression. They also were frustrated by the consistent imbalance of potato supply and demand and the resulting lack of profitability. The failure to create a national organization to unify the industry and improve their economic well being seemed to make their woes almost unbearable. Little did they know that revolutions in crop protection chemicals, potato storage, and irrigation, coupled with weakening domestic demand, would only make the industry problems more complex.

Fortunately, some 14 years later, growers created the National Potato Council to represent growers from all production areas on federal, legislative, and regulatory issues. In 1971, potato growers created the U.S. Potato Board to grow consumer demand and support marketing innovation. In 2005, the final leg of the three-legged stool was put in place with the creation of the United  Potato Growers of America, an organization dedicated to balancing the supply side of the equation. It took a while but in 2007 potato growers have the national organizations that they sought in 1933.