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Eye on Potatoes: A Podcast on All Things Potatoes
The Eye on Potatoes Podcast is brought to you by the National Potato Council. This is the place to tune in for conversations with growers and thought leaders on advocacy, production and all things potatoes. It's about talking with folks across the United States and hearing stories about how federal policy impacts potato farming and the important role the NPC plays in standing up for potatoes on Capitol Hill. Thanks to our presenting sponsor, Syngenta. Delivering solutions to help producers face the potato industry's complex challenges, Syngenta provides growers with unmatched field expertise along with an array of effective products. Explore syngenta-us.com/spud-doctor to discover solutions for your potato growing obstacles.
Episodes
111 episodes
Meet Brett Jensen, NPC VP of Trade Affairs
During the 2025 NPC Washington Summit, we caught up with Brett Jensen, the newly elected National Potato Council Vice President of Trade Affairs. We chatted with Brett about his operations in Idaho Falls, his previous chairmanships of the Idaho...
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14:34
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Tariff Volatility: NPC Analyzing Impact on Growers
On April 9, President Trump announced he would pause "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of non-retaliating countries for 90 days while raising duties on China to 125%. Responding to the news, NPC CEO Kam Quarles and industry consultant Matt Lantz j...
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25:54
Checking in with NPC Leaders Ted Tschirky and Dean Gibson
During February's NPC Washington Summit, we sat down with incoming NPC President Ted Tschirky of Tschirky Farms in Pasco, Wash, who talked about his new role and the importance of growers being industry advocates from the local to federal level...
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18:11
What's Next for Ag Labor Policy?
During January's Potato Expo 2025, we sat down to talk about one of the most pressing issues impacting the agricultural community: labor. Joining the podcast for the first time was Shawn Packer, principal member of JPH Law, who brou...
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22:16
The Moving Tariff Target
While a hot-button topic, the tariff issue has been a moving target. When U.S. potato growers met last week at the NPC Washington Summit, we had questions about whether tariffs would cover agricultural products or if they would be imposed at al...
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31:46
Dietary Guidelines, Federal Nutrition Regulations, and How Growers Could be Impacted
During Potato Expo 2025, we sat down to talk about the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans process and the report issued late last year by the DGA Scientific Advisory Committee to understand how the final guidelines could impact the U.S. pota...
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20:59
2025 Potato LEAF Leadership Programs
The Potato Leadership, Education and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF) is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, and it continues to be an invaluable asset to the industry. In 2024, it added its first n...
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22:06
U.S. Potatoes in Mexico: Maintaining and Enhancing Export Market Access
The opening of Mexico to fresh table stock exports has created significant benefits for U.S. producers, Mexican consumers and even Mexican growers as demand for potatoes increases. During Potato Expo 2025, we brought together four industry expe...
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31:48
LIVE from Potato Expo: What Can We Expect from a New Administration and Congress?
During Potato Expo 2025 in Orlando, Florida, we sat down with NPC CEO Kam Quarles and Randy Russell, President of The Russell Group, to reflect on the outcomes of the 2024 election and forecast how the policies being floated by the incoming Tru...
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30:46
NPC's 2024 Wrapped with President Bob Mattive
With 2024 quickly coming to a close, we checked in with National Potato Council President Bob Mattive and NPC CEO Kam Quarles to look back on a busy year for agriculture policy and the organization, and look ahead at the upcoming Potato Expo an...
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37:20
Potato Expo Preview: Global Ag Futurist Jack Uldrich
Today’s “bleeding edge” and “cutting edge” technologies are moving into the mainstream at a breakneck pace, and yesterday’s science fiction will soon be tomorrow’s science-based reality. How can potato growers and supply chain partners hope to ...
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10:21
2024 Election Recap with Randy Russell
One week after the 2024 General Election, there's a lot we know (and even more we don't know) about the prospect for pro-potato and pro-agriculture policy efforts in 2025 and beyond. Calling into the Eye on Potatoes Podcast this week was Randy ...
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35:13
LIVE from Tokyo! NPC Pushes for Access in Japan
NPC CEO Kam Quarles and trade consultant Matt Lantz from Bryant Christie, Inc. traveled to Japan this week to advance the industry’s trade priority of gaining market access for U.S. fresh potatoes. The pair called in to report on their meeting ...
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33:40
The ROI of Ag Research
Research is a critical tool as we work to feed a growing population here in the U.S. and around the world. During each NPC Washington Summit, the National Potato Council, along with growers and state partners, head to Capitol Hill to educate la...
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36:25
D.C. Update: Congress is back but big issues loom before Election Day
With portions of the Farm Bill starting to expire and a federal shutdown looming should Congress fail to act by Oct. 1, NPC CEO Kam Quarles called into the Eye on Potatoes podcast to talk about the big issues that need to be addressed before th...
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18:05
Let's meet 2024-25 Potato LEAF Scholarship Recipient Sylvia Zhang
The Potato Leadership, Education, and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF) recently announced Sylvia (Xiuyan) Zhang, a Ph.D. student at the University of Maine, as the recipient of the organization’s
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17:25
Previewing the upcoming U.S./Japan bilateral on fresh potato access
Japan is a significant market for U.S. processed potatoes, but as we’ve discussed a few times on this program, no U.S. fresh potatoes are allowed in Japan. The U.S. potato industry has been seeking approval to ship U.S. fresh potatoes into this...
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31:21
Industry Update: Latest efforts to prevent the spread of PEI Potato Wart
It’s been a year since we last checked in on the potato wart situation in Prince Edward Island, Canada. This week, we sat down with Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, and Don Flannery, Executive Director of the Maine Potato Board,...
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33:19
Speaking with a unified voice through the American Potato Trade Alliance
For this week's Eye on Potatoes Podcast, we caught up with Matt Lantz and Adam Hollowell from Bryant Christie, Inc., who are in D.C. for a meeting of the American Potato Trade Alliance. Matt and Adam talk about how APTA was created, their role ...
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19:52
DC Update: Farm Bill Clears House Ag Committee
NPC CEO Kam Quarles joined Eye on Potatoes podcast host Lane Nordlund to discuss the House version of the 2024 Farm Bill, which was passed by the House Agriculture Committee in the early hours of Friday morning, and NPC’s efforts to urge Congre...
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24:35
Enhancing Growers’ Competitiveness: A Discussion with National Organization Leaders
During Potato Expo 2024, Lane Nordlund, host of the Eye on Potatoes Podcast, sat down with the leaders of three national potato organizations for a conversation on how they are working to promote the health of the U.S. potato industry and suppo...
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20:12
D.C. Update: Potato Debate Makes The Tonight Show
Just when you thought NPC's efforts to keep potatoes defined as a vegetable couldn't gain more media attention, in comes Jimmy Fallon, who provided a light-hearted overview of the issue in the opening monologue of a recent Tonight Show. N...
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22:52
Spudding Innovation: The State of AI for the Potato Industry
The rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence is focused on building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. Companies within and outside agriculture are adapting AI to their operations to im...
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22:12