Voigt Hopeful Farm Bill, Trade Deals Will Be Worked Out Sooner Rather Than Later

It’s a fairly turbulent time of the American ag industry.  In addition to soft commodity prices, there is the uncertainty in the farm bill and trade discussions.  Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington state Potato Commission, said while many are growing anxious about a new farm bill being passed by the end of September, he says there’s still time.  He told the Washington Ag Network the farm bill is so important for potato growers, and potato consumers, because of the large pot of money for research.  He said shoppers take for granted the high quality of produce we enjoy at our local grocery stores.  Voigt added great quality day in and day out can be challenging.

“The reality is we have production issues every year, and they change every year, all sorts of diseases and insects and pests, and it’s like ‘how do you manage all of that?’.  And so that’s where this specialty crop research really comes in handy.  It really ensures that we’re able to deliver the best quality, the safest, most reliable food supply.”

And Voigt says those research dollars help potato growers solve production problems that come up along the way.  On the trade front, Voigt said he would like to see the administration sure up NAFTA and explore additional trade options.  He added trade is vital for Washington growers, which export roughly 70% of the spuds grown here.

“These markets are very critical for us so it’s not just sort of the whole free-trade agreements, what we’re renegotiating what we’re not renegotiating, what we’re really kind of concerned about now is, how the rest of the world could potentially react to us trying to protect some of our domestic industries.”

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