The National Potato Council Elects New Leadership, Rolls Out New Industry Analyses.

Lorrie Boyer

Reporter

The National Potato Council has released a new analysis that will serve as a tool to help expand foreign market access for US potatoes, Monta Vista, Colorado potato producer and 2024 NPC President, Bob Mattive gives an overview of the recently released report that was conducted by Michigan State economists.

“The results of this study are eye-opening and informative. They show that in July 2022 through June 2023, the US exported $2.2 billion in potatoes and potato products, which generated around $4.78 billion in economic activity, and it supported approximately 34,000 US jobs throughout the value chain. So that act economic activity didn't just benefit potato growers, but also farm laborers process workers truck drivers longshoreman and the communities that they live in all benefited from trade of us potatoes.”

The potato industry will use this information to show congressional delegations how important the US potato industry is to the US as a whole along with districts that have potato-producing regions in them. Tariffs, quotas, sanitary and phytosanitary issues remain to be barriers for potato exports.