The Trump Administration's "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) Commission report, spearheaded by Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., has ignited a major debate across the U.S. food and agriculture landscape. While the National Potato Council applauds the report's focus on a healthier America and increased fruit and vegetable consumption, certain recommendations are raising critical questions for our industry. In this episode, we're joined by NPC CEO Kam Quarles and returning guest Beth Johnson , Found...
Jun 18, 2025•44 min
Join us for a special episode dedicated to the Potato Leadership, Education and Advancement Foundation ( Potato LEAF )! Launched in January 2020 at Potato Expo, Potato LEAF is shaping the future of U.S. potato production through impactful leadership and educational programming, born from a vision to establish a long-term funding mechanism for the industry's growth. In this episode, we'll dive into the five-year history of Potato LEAF, explore how collaborative leadership has driven its success, ...
Jun 04, 2025•26 min
Nathan Gonzales is Editor & Publisher of Inside Elections , which provides nonpartisan analysis of campaigns for Senate, House, governor, and president. He's also co-host of the Inside Elections Podcast and an Elections Analyst for CQ Roll Call. During the 2025 NPC Washington Summit, we sat down with Nathan to talk about the political trends coming out of the 2024 elections, the latest innovations and challenges shaping the future of political campaigning, and how the political chessboard ha...
May 21, 2025•26 min
U.S. EPA has made a concerted effort over the past several years to come into compliance with its obligations under the Endangered Species Act. Much of its efforts are driven by what is referred to as the Mega Suit by environmental groups, which are forcing deadlines on EPA to meet its obligations. During Potato Expo 2025, we sat down with two policy experts to talk about what the implementation of EPA’s strategy will mean for growers. Guests: Mike Aerts , Vice President of Science and Regulator...
May 07, 2025•27 min
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 Potato Commission and Potatoes USA, and how his background supports his role in leading NPC's trade advocacy efforts.
Apr 22, 2025•15 min
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 jumped on the podcast to discuss the rapidly changing environment around tariffs, how our industry's top export markets are reacting, and some new opportunities they are seeing for reaching new consumers throughout the world. Guests: Matt Lantz , Senior Vic...
Apr 10, 2025•26 min
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 levels. Joining Ted was Dean Gibson from Paul, Idaho, and NPC’s Vice President of Legislative Affairs, who previewed some of the policy priorities that growers would be taking to their Members of Congress during their Hill visits. This podcast is possible thank...
Apr 01, 2025•18 min
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 brought his extensive expertise in legal frameworks shaping agricultural operations to the discussion. JPH Law is a consultant to the National Potato Council through the Agricultural Workforce Coalition on agricultural labor policy. We were also joined by Mike Wenkel, Chi...
Mar 21, 2025•22 min
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 all. On Tuesday of this week, 25% tariffs were officially imposed on Canada and Mexico, but yesterday afternoon, the president announced that tariffs on both countries would be deferred for one month on all goods covered under the USMCA trade agreement, whic...
Mar 07, 2025•32 min
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. potato industry. We were joined once again by NPC CEO Kam Quarles and returning guest Beth Johnson from the company Food Directions, which has been working with NPC to ensure that accurate potato makes it into the final version of the guidelines. Guests: Beth ...
Feb 21, 2025•21 min
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 new program to its leadership development offerings – Leadership in the Field held at the Gettysburg Battlefield. Recorded at Potato Expo 2025, we welcomed Colin Szawlowski, owner of Valley Spud LLC, and Mike Wenkel, Chief Operating Officer of the National Potato Council, to the podcast ...
Feb 10, 2025•22 min
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 experts to provide valuable insights on the challenges and opportunities surrounding U.S. potato exports. The episode highlights the 25-year journey to open the Mexican market for U.S. potatoes, demonstrating the collaboration between industry leaders and gove...
Jan 28, 2025•32 min
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 Trump Administration and new Congress could impact growers in 2025 and beyond. Guests: Kam Quarles, CEO, National Potato Council Randy Russell, President, The Russell Group This podcast is possible thanks to our presenting sponsor, Syngenta. Delivering soluti...
Jan 15, 2025•31 min
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 and Washington Summit. Guests: Bob Mattive, 2024 NPC President and potato grower from Monte Vista, Colorado Kam Quarles, NPC CEO This podcast is possible thanks to our presenting sponsor, Syngenta. Delivering solutions to help producers face the potato indus...
Dec 23, 2024•37 min
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 keep up? Global futurist, best-selling author, and Potato Expo 2025 speaker Jack Uldrich called into the Eye on Potatoes Podcast to preview his keynote session on how artificial intelligence is transforming farming and agriculture, and how related advances...
Dec 03, 2024•10 min
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 Russell, President of The Russell Group, and NPC CEO Kam Quarles to talk about the impact of rural voters in the election and what a new Trump Administration and a GOP-controlled Congress could mean for the Farm Bill, ag labor reform, trade opportunities, ...
Nov 12, 2024•35 min
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 with U.S. officials at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to urge their support to gain access to the $150 million market. This podcast is possible thanks to our presenting sponsor, Syngenta. Delivering solutions to help producers face the potato industry's complex...
Oct 25, 2024•34 min
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 lawmakers about the importance of funding key research programs. Joining the discussion is NPC CEO Kam Quarles and the state manager from Michigan, Kelly Turner, the Executive Director of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission, to talk about the importance ...
Oct 04, 2024•36 min
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 the general election. Also, with representatives from USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) scheduled to host plant health technical bilateral meetings with their Japanese counterparts in Idaho Falls, Kam talks about how he and others from ...
Sep 12, 2024•18 min
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 2024-25 Academic Scholarship . We sat down with Sylvia to talk about her background growing up in Inner Mongolia, often referred to as the "potato capital of China," and her research, which is focused on the dynamic behavior of bacterial species that cause potato blackleg and soft rot disease, as we...
Aug 29, 2024•17 min
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 significant market for over 20 years but the Japanese government continues to drag its heels. However, on Sept. 16, USDA and their counterparts in Japan are taking part in a bilateral meeting in Idaho Falls to discuss this issue. NPC CEO Kam Quarles and S...
Aug 19, 2024•31 min
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, to talk about the U.S. potato industry's ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of wart to the United States. The group also talked about the release of a bipartisan letter by members of the U.S. Senate urging USDA to implement additional mitigation measur...
Jul 19, 2024•33 min
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 with the organization, and how the alliance is helping the U.S. potato industry speak with a unified voice on trade issues. Guests: Matt Lantz, Senior Vice President of Global Access, Bryant Christie, Inc Adam Hollowell, Senior Trade Policy Specialist, Bry...
Jun 05, 2024•20 min
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 Congress to finalize a bipartisan bill by the end of the year. This podcast is possible thanks to our presenting sponsor, Syngenta. Delivering solutions to help producers face the potato industry's complex challenges, Syngenta provides growers with unmatched fie...
May 24, 2024•25 min
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 supporting growers and partners up and down the supply chain. Panelists: Mark Klompien, President and CEO, United Potato Growers of America Kam Quarles, CEO, National Potato Council Blair Richardson, President and CEO, Potatoes USA This podcast is possible than...
May 09, 2024•20 min
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. NPC CEO Kam Quarles and podcast host Lane Nordlund sat down to talk about NPC's efforts to protect potatoes in the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the ongoing negotiations to open Japan's market to U.S. fresh potatoes, and if we can see a Farm Bill passed ...
Apr 26, 2024•23 min
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 improve efficiency and productivity. During Potato Expo 2024, the Eye on Potatoes podcast welcomed one of the leaders of KUNGFU.AI, which helps clients transform themselves into AI-first companies. Guest: Ron Green, KUNGFU.AI Co-founder and Chief Technology ...
Apr 11, 2024•22 min
Steve Lerch is a former Google executive, a consultant, and an award-winning international speaker. He spent nearly a decade at Google designing digital strategies and marketing campaigns for well-known brands like GoPro, federal government agencies like the US Census, and respected non-profits like the YMCA. Steve has recently specialized in the food and agriculture industry, working with everyone from Avocados from Mexico to John Deer to National Beef. Steve returned to the Eye on Potatoes Pod...
Mar 21, 2024•27 min
UPDATE: Due to scheduled construction at The Mirage Las Vegas, the National Potato Council moved the location of Potato Expo 2025 to the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 9-10, 2025. --- After more than 20 years and numerous legal challenges, the Mexican market was opened to U.S. fresh potatoes in 2022. Nearly two years later, NPC, Potatoes USA, and the industry’s top trade consultants at Bryant Christie, Inc. came together at Potato Expo 2024 to assess where things are, how f...
Mar 06, 2024•32 min
During Potato Expo 2024, National Potato Council 2023 President RJ Andrus and First Vice President Bob Mattive sat down to reflect on their time on the Executive Committee and preview some of the top policy priorities for the upcoming NPC Washington Summit, Feb. 26- March 1, 2024. RJ Andrus of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a third-generation farmer and an owner of TBR Farms located in Hamer, Idaho. He has served on the Executive Committee since 2019, in roles including Vice President of Grower Outreach...
Feb 14, 2024•26 min
