Our Position
The current Farm Bill was written in 2018 and originally expired over two years ago. The U.S. potato industry and all of American agriculture needs a modernized Farm Bill that addresses the current and future competitive challenges we will face. In that regard, the specialty crop provisions passed by the House Agriculture Committee in their Farm Bill last year were a good first step in providing tools to the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry, which comprises over 50% of production at the farm gate.
The National Potato Council Supports the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance’s Farm Bill Priorities
The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) represents the U.S. specialty crop industry on Farm Bill priorities. The National Potato Council’s CEO Kam Quarles is one of four co-chairs of the SCFBA, along with Dave Puglia, President and CEO, Western Growers, Mike Joyner, President, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, and Cathy Burns, President of the
International Fresh Produce Association.
The organization has completed a two year-long process to develop comprehensive priorities across all relevant titles of the Farm Bill. The National Potato Council strongly supports those SCFBA priorities and urges their inclusion in a reauthorized Farm Bill.
Consistent with those industry-wide recommendations, the National Potato Council highlights the following priorities:
Enhance the Specialty Crop Research Initiative
The Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) is currently funded at $80 million annually under the Farm Bill. This program has been heavily-utilized by the U.S. potato industry to fund beneficial research in the areas of soil health, potato breeding, nematode control and data generation for science-based pesticide evaluation.
For the Farm Bill, we urge that the House and Senate Agriculture Committees include an increase of $50 million annual funding for SCRI. We also encourage the Committees to maintain the industry outreach structure of the SCRI review process that prioritizes research that is relevant to growers and restore matching fund waiver authority at the Secretary’s discretion.
Increase Funding for the Trade Title of the Farm Bill
The U.S. potato industry is highly export dependent and has used USDA’s
export programs to open and develop significant overseas markets. Recently, the National Potato Council used the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops program to open the Mexican market to U.S. fresh potatoes.
We strongly urge the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to provide an additional $200 million per year to the Market Access Program (MAP). MAP has been essential in building markets for U.S. potato exports such as Japan, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and other valuable countries.
Strengthen Resources to Prevent or Eradicate Pest and Disease Threats
USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has administered the Plant Pest and Disease Management/Disaster Prevention Program for over a decade. This program seeks to analyze the pathways that phytosanitary threats may take to enter the U.S., enhance the oversight of those pathways thereby reducing risks, and devote resources to eradicating threats should they become established in the U.S.
With the recent APHIS report detailing the high risk of potato wart entering the U.S. from Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, and the devastating impact this could have on the industry, this program is even more essential in the future to U.S. potato growers.
The National Potato Council strongly encourages the Committees to fund this program (Plant Protection Act Section 7721) at $90 million per year.
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