National Potato Council (NPC) voiced its strong opposition Sept. 26 to an amendment proposed by Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) within the House FY 2024 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. This amendment, if enacted, jeopardizes the existence of critical commodity checkoff programs, including the prominent Potatoes USA. Checkoff programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and overseen by growers and ranchers. These programs are industry-driven organizations designed to champion and promote U.S. agricultural products and lend support to American growers and ranchers.
NPC 2023 President RJ Andrus expressed concern about the implications of the Spartz amendment. Andrus emphasized that this amendment is part of a broader series of attempts aimed at curtailing the activities of grower-funded and grower-led agricultural research and promotion boards.
“This amendment is intended to undermine vital agricultural research and impair promotion programs, particularly in highly competitive foreign markets,” Andrus said. “The National Potato Council strongly opposes these intentions to weaken or eliminate programs enacted by the grower-leadership of these boards and supported exclusively by grower funds.”
Andrus further noted that this effort to prevent USDA from allocating taxpayer funds for overseeing these boards could erode transparency and immediately impact the communities reliant on the benefits of agricultural research and promotion.
NPC has rallied alongside about 130 national and state agricultural groups in opposition to the Spartz amendment. A letter outlining their collective stance on this matter can be found here.
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