What’s the Current State of the U.S. Potato Industry?
September 28, 2021 During July’s National Potato Council (NPC) 2021 Summer Meeting, held virtually due to ongoing travel and hospitality challenges, I reported to the board that serving as their President and being on the Executive Committee since the start of the pandemic has made me appreciate even more what NPC does for our industry.
When the crisis began in February of last year, things moved so rapidly that it was hard to grasp their impacts at the time — both for the organization and the broader industry. Yet once we realized how broadly the pandemic would affect the country, we set two goals for NPC that were simple and clear:
1. Stabilize the industry through federal intervention as the pandemic evolved.
2. Secure the future of NPC by minimizing its financial exposure.
On both fronts, not only have we delivered, we have reinforced why this organization exists for the industry.
Stabilizing the Industry
In the spring of 2020, NPC, Potatoes USA, the state organizations, and our industry partners sat down to design a path forward to delivering federal resources to the industry. That plan relied on pushing USDA to provide direct assistance to growers to stabilize them through the worst of the government-imposed shutdowns.
It also called on USDA to become our customer.
As we look back over the most recent data, we now know that $350 million in federal assistance was provided to the potato industry as a result of these two initiatives. This is an historic level of federal assistance to growers that reflected the magnitude of the crisis we faced.
Securing the Future
Secondly, we worked to ensure NPC would continue to exist as an organization.
NPC was fortunate in that the timing of the pandemic impacted only one year of Potato Expo. Due to the hard work of our staff, the worst-case scenario over the past year was avoided for the organization’s long-term health. Our reserves took a hit, but it could have been far worse. This outcome is due to the diligent work of the team in minimizing expenses and maximizing the use of the virtual platform for the Potato Expo 2021.
Due to our collective work, NPC and the entire industry is on a better footing today than we could have imagined during the pandemic’s darkest times. We’ll continue to take that consistent, relentless focus to fight for the industry as things get back to normal.
I thank everyone involved for their hard work to keep our organization on track. Now that the worst is hopefully behind us, I look forward to getting back to our proactive policy agenda in DC and bringing the entire industry together for an in-person Potato Expo 2022 in Anaheim, January 5 to 6 (NationalPotatoCouncil.org/event/Potato-Expo-2022/).
The Eye on Potatoes Podcast, brought to you by the National Potato Council, is the place to tune in for conversations with growers and thought leaders on advocacy, production, and all things potatoes. It’s about talking with folks across the U.S. and hearing stories about how federal policy impacts potato farming and the important role the NPC plays in standing up for potatoes on Capitol Hill.
Graphic courtesy of the National Potato Council
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