News Release

US Potato Co-op building support through grassroots effort

BLACKFOOT, ID — Members and supporters of a new potato supply management cooperative are taking their message on the road this week. The goal of the Potato Management Company (PMC) is to contract with potato growers and shippers in several states to buy up the surplus potatoes in storage and take those potatoes off the market in order to create a better market for the potatoes that remain.

PMC leaders are conducting a meeting in Pasco, Washington today (Jan. 4). Meetings are scheduled in Rexburg, Burley, Pocatello and Idaho Falls. Meetings in Wisconsin and Colorado are also being planned. Meeting specifics are as follows:

• Pocatello – 10 a.m. January 8, Pocatello Airport
• Burley – 2 p.m. January 10, Burley Inn
• Rexburg – 1 p.m. January 11, Cotton Tree Inn
• Idaho Falls – 1 p.m. January 15, Shilo Inn – Members Only

The surplus in the three Pacific Northwest states amounts to about 30 million-hundredweight more in storage now than there were last year at this time. Analysts estimate that at least half of the surplus will have no market at any price. The surplus has created a serious marketing problem because the supply outweighs the demand, which keeps prices low. Growers are currently receiving about 1 cent per pound, when it costs in the neighborhood of 5 cents per pound to produce potatoes. The PMC plan is to purchase the surplus from growers and shippers and dispose of it in order to even the supply/demand equation and create a market with positive fundamentals. It will take the cooperation of the entire industry in these three states to accomplish this goal.

Some of the potatoes will be donated to various charitable organizations, but most will be spread on fields in order to realize fertilizer benefits. Charitable organizations are strongly encouraged to contact PMC. Arrangements are currently being made for donations to be received by the Idaho Food Bank, Calvary Chapel in Pocatello, and America’s Second Harvest, a nationwide food bank. By working together to get rid of the surplus potatoes, we will create a market for the balance of the crop and in turn save Idaho farms and businesses. In addition, disposing of the surplus now during the cold winter months will avert environmental problems resulting from rotting potatoes this spring and summer.