As Wisconsin growers prepare for spring planting, the National Potato Council is navigating oversupply, rising costs, and shifting federal policies. In a recent interview, National Potato Council COO Mike Wenkel tells Mid-West Farm Report about the to-do list aimed at ensuring federal regulations and trade agreements support, rather than hinder, the specialty crop industry.
Currently, the cost of production is outpacing market returns. In some sectors, potato growers are facing losses of $8 to $10 per hundredweight. To combat this, the NPC is advocating for financial relief.
The industry is also focused on labor reform and market expansion. While new markets in Mexico and South Korea offer a combined multi-million dollar boost, internal pressures like labor costs and immigration policy remain stagnant in Congress.
Wenkel outlined a three-pillar approach to labor:
- addressing the existing workforce
- creating a predictable guest worker program
- securing borders
Current legislative efforts are largely “marker bills” without immediate political backing, he explains.
On the home front, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement has brought new scrutiny to dietary guidelines. While the whole potato remains a staple of the food pyramid, the industry is waiting on a federal definition of “ultra-processed” foods. Wenkel says it could impact how potato products are used in school lunches and the WIC program.
“We need to make any of those kinds of decisions from a healthy standpoint based on the nutritional value that’s being delivered and not as much on the process to get it there,” he says.
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