Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/264154
66 Potato Grower | March 2014 It is vitally important that potato growers and other agriculturists reverse the trend of agriculture becoming less of a voice in the political arena. Growing the industry's voice in the Political arena national Potato council by randy hardy, NPC President AT THe NPC ANNUAl MeeTING in January, America's potato growers placed their trust in me to lead the National Potato Council as its president through 2014. It is a responsibility I take seriously as both a long-time advocate for the indus- try and as the nephew of a former NPC president, W.b. Whiteley, who led the organization in 1955 and 1956. My uncle was a tremendous influence on me both personally and professionally. Shortly after I returned from college at age 19 and married my high school sweetheart in June of 1972, my father died suddenly of a heart attack in August and I was left to take over the family farm. even though I had been involved in our operation ever since I could drive a toy tractor, my uncle was the one who taught me how to run a business and make the long-term plans that would allow me to pass the farm down to the next generation. His patience and look- ing after me and my family paid off. Along with my wife Karlene, who serves as the farm's secretary/treasurer, I am proud that my son ben works beside me to take care of the day-to-day opera- tions of our south-central Idaho farm. We even farm some of the ground owned by my late uncle. While my uncle and I shared the desire to be a resource for the next gen- eration, a lot has changed in the way the industry operates. For example, when my uncle became NPC president in 1955, the 45,000 potato growers in the United States farmed 1.4 million acres, which yielded 228 million cwt. of potatoes. Today, there are fewer than 4,000 commercial potato growers farming 1.15 million acres. However, even with fewer growers and smaller acreage, the total yield has more than doubled, bringing in 467 million cwt. in 2012. even though today's potato growers can celebrate the fruits of agricultural innova- tion that produces more with less, we must be aware that fewer growers means the voice of agriculture is diminishing. during a december 2012 Farm Journal forum held after the general election, Secretary of Agriculture Tom vilsack had some sobering words for the agriculture community. He said, "Why is it that we While there may be fewer than 4,000 potato growers left in the united States, we represent billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs in economic production, and we support small-town communities across the nation.