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By Kam Quarles, CEO, National Potato Council
As we write this in mid-September, we are again approaching a major crossroad in Washington, D.C., with a packed policy agenda that directly impacts the future of the potato industry. The coming weeks will be a whirlwind, with another potential government shutdown looming and the window quickly closing to pass a long-term Farm Bill and ag labor reforms to support the agriculture community.
By the time you read this, we’ll know whether Congress has met its Constitutional obligation to pass a budget by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Should Congress not approve the funding bills or enact a short-term stopgap measure, we will face a government shutdown. Depending on the duration, it may cause significant disruption to the agencies and services upon which our growers rely.
This fall, the current Farm Bill extension will also expire. While NPC and our partners were successful in securing permanent funding for key specialty crop programs under this summer’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”– a huge win for our industry – we still need a new Farm Bill or another extension to keep all the essential programs running. We’ve been through this extension cycle before, and we are working tirelessly to ensure our priorities are not lost in the political machinations.
To add to the complexity, Congress also has a narrow window to act on agricultural labor reform. As growers remember, members of both the House and Senate have said for years that they support reforming the H-2A program and dealing with the current undocumented labor force, but only after the border is secure. With the Trump Administration’s actions, that requirement has been met and the border fully secured. Congress no longer has a reason to delay action on this key competitive issue for U.S. farms.
Another major item on our radar is the recent release of the second report from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission. While the first report raised serious concerns across production agriculture, this second one is a marked improvement. It’s clear the commission listened to input from industry experts, growers and other professionals who understand our systems, rather than just reacting emotionally. The new report is more grounded in common sense.
Following that report, the MAHA philosophy is likely to be applied through various rulemakings impacting school meals, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, pesticide regulations and others. First on the agenda, the administration is likely to create a new definition for “ultra-processed” foods and then seek to limit their consumption, especially in programs like school meals. NPC will be closely monitoring these developments to ensure that potatoes, a nutrient-dense whole food, are not unfairly targeted. We’ve already had a big win on the Dietary Guidelines front, where our collective efforts to keep potatoes classified as a vegetable were successful. This new administration is not expected to revisit that issue, which is a great relief.
On the topic of international trade, the political environment is as complex as ever, but for the U.S. potato industry, we have seen some unexpected opportunities emerge. Our major export markets are largely unimpaired by the current tariff environment. In fact, the pressure being applied on a number of countries has created leverage to open up new markets for U.S. agriculture.
Japan is a prime example. For years, Japan has been a closed market for U.S. fresh potatoes, representing a potential $150 million market for our growers. The administration’s focus on trade has created the momentum needed to finally pry that door open. We are looking forward to a rescheduled trip by the Secretary of Agriculture to Japan, where we can continue to push for access to this incredibly valuable market.
Lastly, there’s the ongoing discussion about economic relief. The July “MASC” payments to growers were a critical lifeline, but the economic turmoil continues. While the “program crops” in Title I of the Farm Bill are looking for additional economic disaster relief, we want to make sure specialty crops are part of that discussion. We’ve learned from past programs, like CFAP 2, that the most effective relief programs for our industry are simple and efficient, not ones that try to shoehorn us into a framework designed for other commodities. We are making the case to Congress and the administration that they already know what works for specialty crop growers. We are urging them to embed the successful elements of those past programs into any new policy.
These are challenging times, but the National Potato Council is committed to advocating for our growers on all these fronts. With a unified voice, we can navigate these issues and ensure the continued health and prosperity of the U.S. potato industry.