Potato industry nervous but hopeful about the upcoming Administration’s policies

The CEO of the National Potato Council says folks are asking the right questions, but their concerns may be presumptive.

With so much change on the horizon, the ag industry is bracing for what the new Administration has in store.

The CEO of the National Potato Council says folks are asking the right questions, but their concerns may be presumptive.

“If the threat of tariffs drives countries that we partner with, and in some cases compete with, if it drives them to the negotiating table where we can get a better deal overall for, selfishly for U.S. agriculture’s huge trade deficit, we can start balancing that trade deficit. That will be a very good thing. Obviously, if you had massive tariffs go on just kind of wholesale across the United States and never come off, that’s an entirely different matter. But that hasn’t happened. So, I think we just have to give the administration the opportunity to actually implement their policies,” said Kam Quarles.

Regardless, Quarles says the way things are currently going is not working, so he hopes change leads to more positive outcomes.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

Despite tariffs having a less significant impact on exports, corn producers struggle with tariff-related increases on inputs, which complicates their bottom line.
Jack Daniel’s will end its Cow Feeder Program, which served around 100 livestock operations near the distillery, and redirect spent grains to its anaerobic digester.
Prepare for acute UAN risk and a brief urea shock; maintain steady ammonia and phosphate plans, and monitor potash basis on the coasts.
Software developers at John Deere Digital are addressing challenges with their new Operations Center, which helps farmers make decisions on the fly.
“A government shutdown impacts all Americans and has serious consequences, including for farmers. It just adds additional uncertainty, disrupts critical services.”