National Potato Council

05/07/2026

As planting season ramps up, potato growers are looking beyond the farm to help manage rising input costs, reports RFD-TV.

National Potato Council Chief Operating Officer Mike Wenkel says expanding into overseas markets remains one of the best ways to help offset increasing expenses for growers.

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Industry leaders say overseas markets remain critical as USDA pushes for broader export opportunities.

04/27/2026

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service has awarded $179,000 in Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops funding to the National Potato Council to support its ongoing market access efforts in Japan over the next three years. The council will match the grant with an additional $50,000 in direct or in-kind contributions.

Learn more here: https://www.nationalpotatocouncil.org/trump-administration-awards-npc-funding-for-japan-exports/

04/17/2026

Specialty crop producers continue to face record-high input costs while awaiting the distribution of federal relief funds, reports The Packer. Although the USDA announced $1 billion in payments earmarked for specialty crops, sugar, and other unspecified commodities not covered by the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, NPC CEO Kam Quarles tells them that "not a dime has gone out under that program" to date.

Quarles says specialty crops are in the same economic crisis as the rest of agriculture, and relief can’t come soon enough. “If we get to the end of the year and there is no economic relief for specialty crops, a number of family farms will be going out of business,” he says.

Read the full story:

While the USDA begins rolling out long-awaited specialty crop grants, National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles warns that the $1 billion in emergency relief for the industry remains stuck in neutral, leaving farmers waiting on urgently needed relief that has yet to arrive.

04/02/2026

🎉In just over 5 years, the Eye on Potatoes Podcast has reached a new milestone. Thanks to the 50+ industry guests and our regular listeners for helping us reach 25k downloads!

If you haven't already, subscribe and set-to auto download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eye-on-potatoes-a-podcast-on-all-things-potatoes/id1491815515

03/31/2026

Potatoes are highly sensitive to even moderate environmental changes. During Potato Expo 2026, we sat down with Andrew Pritchard, Senior Atmospheric Scientist at Nutrien, who identified the "best and worst" weather patterns for potato health. The conversation focuses on practical resilience strategies, including soil performance tracking and storage management, to help producers remain profitable despite erratic rainfall and shifting pest pressures.

🎧 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eye-on-potatoes-a-podcast-on-all-things-potatoes/id1491815515

03/30/2026

“Specialty crops are different than our Title 1 colleagues,” NPC CEO Kam Quarles tells attendees during an industry roundtable hosted by Punchbowl News. While many of the Farm Bill’s safety net programs are not available to specialty crop growers, “we're all playing in this very volatile economic environment and the stress that our specialty crop producers feel – our potato producers feel – is just as intense as our Title 1 colleagues. It's forcing us to look at things that we really haven't been after in the past, like economic relief, direct payments, those types of things – a place where the specialty crop industry has really never gone before.”

03/24/2026

"From my involvement starting around 2014," writes 2026 NPC President Ben Sklarczyk, "I’ve seen that NPC’s strength doesn’t just come from the executive committee or the board. It comes from the participation of every single grower."

Read his full column in Spudman Magazine: https://spudman.com/news/new-npc-president-highlights-priorities-from-2026-washington-summit/

03/19/2026

With Japan PM Takaichi Sanae at the White House today, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden sat down with AgInfoNet to talk about the bipartisan congressional effort to encourage President Trump to add U.S. fresh potatoes access to Japan to the topics of discussion.

Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Idaho’s Mike Crapo wrote a letter, signed by 66 of their colleagues, encouraging the President to make getting U.S. fresh potato access into Japan.

03/17/2026

NEW PODCAST JUST DROPPED — National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles and Spudman Magazine Managing Editor Melinda Waldrop join the Eye on Potatoes Podcast to break down the inaugural 2026 Spud Sector Survey. This first-of-its-kind report moves past headlines to reveal the economic heartbeat of America’s potato growers.

Discover how NPC uses this "hard data ammunition" to advocate for our family farms in Washington, D.C. The group discusses the striking "optimism gap," where growers feel confident in their own operations but fear for the broader industry’s future. From the 82.9% of growers facing inflationary disruptions to the "essential bridge" of federal emergency aid, this episode provides a strategic roadmap for the ongoing efforts to Stand Up for Potatoes on Capitol Hill.

🎧 LISTEN NOW at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bridging-the-optimism-gap-insights-from-the-spud/id1491815515?i=1000753425593.

03/17/2026

From tackling labor shortages to expanding export markets and fostering sustainability, Michigan grower and 2026 NPC President Ben Sklarczyk talks with Farm Progress Daily about his priorities for the organization.

From tackling labor shortages to expanding export markets and fostering sustainability, the Michigan farmer outlines his priorities for the organization.

03/16/2026

Washington Week Ahead: All eyes on Japan and the U.S. potato industry's three-decade-long effort to gain access to the Japanese market for U.S. fresh potatoes.

Via Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/24369-washington-week-ahead-us-china-talks-farmers-on-capitol-hill