M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7 28 POTATO GROWER People, Product News Seed Farms, Inc.; G-2 Farming, LLC; Kimm Seed Potatoes; Brian Kirschenmann, Kirschenmann Farms, Inc.; Labrie Farms LLC; Dan Lake, Lake Seed, Inc.; David Lake, Lake Seed, Inc.; Patrick Lake, Lake Seed, Inc.; Tim Lake, Lake Seed, Inc.; Rob Lane, Lane Farms Inc.; Mike Larsen, Grant 4-D Farms; Macy Farms, LLC; Brian Mahany, Mahany Farms; James Mattek, J.W. Mattek & Sons, Inc.; Doug Michael, Michael Farms, Inc.; Todd Michael, Michael Family Farms; Aroostook Produce Distributors, Inc.; Mike Mitchell Farms, LLC; Tyler Mitchell, Mitchell Farms, LLC; Roger Mix, Mix Farms; Grant Morris, Schneider Farms- Pasco; Katie Neumiller-Floming, Neumiller Farms, Inc; Steve Ottum; Henry Reiner; Sackett Potatoes/ Heritage Growers, LLC; Skinner Spuds, Inc; Sklarczyk Seed Farm; Virgil Slagell, Triple E Farms; Joe Sobolik, Clemenson-Sobolik Farm; Kris Sobolik, Clemenson-Sobolik Farm; Nickolas Somers, Plover River Farms Alliance; Tom Torkelson, Torkelson Brothers, Inc.; Milton and Margaret Trujillo - Goehl Ranches, Inc.; Gold Dust Potato Processors, Inc.; David Warsh, Warsh Farms; Tony Wisdom, Skagit Valley Farm; Keith Wolter, Hyland Lakes Spuds, Inc. Potato Growers Provide NAFTA Enhancements to Administration In a letter to the President, the National Potato Council (NPC) pro- vided specific recommendations on how the Administration can improve the terms of trade for pota- to exports under NAFTA. “Improving NAFTA can benefit rural America and our nation’s econo- my,” said NPC Executive Vice President and CEO John Keeling. “The potato industry is strongly supportive of building on the suc- cesses we have seen over the life of NAFTA.” Canada and Mexico are currently the second and third largest markets for U.S. potato products. With greater access to U.S. fresh and processed potatoes in Mexico and Canada, the U.S. would experience increased job growth on farms, in processing plants and in the trans- portation industry. Conversely, an outright withdrawal from NAFTA would mean the loss of over $500 million in direct potato exports to Mexico and Canada and substan- tially greater indirect losses. A key improvement that NPC sup- ports is an enhanced “SPS Plus” phytosanitary chapter to reduce the use of unscientific pest and disease issues as non-tariff barriers. Such an improvement would eliminate bur- dens that have blocked fresh potato exports to Mexico for over a decade. In Canada, NPC believes anti- dumping determinations must be based on solid economic analysis conducted by neutral third parties and not by those benefitting from their imposition. “The potato industry stands ready to work with the Administration and Congress in pursuing these improvements for NAFTA, along with any future bilateral or multi- lateral agreements that may benefit our producers,” said Keeling. Potato Stocks Up 16 Percent From 2016 The USDA-National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released its April 1, 2017 potato stocks report. The 13 major potato States held 133 million cwt. of potatoes in storage April 1, 2017, up 6 percent from April 1, 2016. Potatoes in storage accounted for 33 percent of the fall storage States’ 2016 production, 1 percent more than last year. Potato disappearance, at 273 million cwt., was down slightly from April 1, 2016. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 20.9 million cwt., was 6 per- cent higher than the same time last year. Processors in the eight major States used 145 million cwt. of pota- toes for the season, up 2 percent from April 2016. Potato disappearance as of April 1, for the 2016 crop is 272,612,000 cwt. Disappearance of the 2015 crop as of April 1, 2016 was 272,782,000 cwt. 2017 disappearance of the 2016