Standing up for potatoes on Capitol Hill—that’s what will be going on late next month when the National Potato Council invites industry members to the Nation’s Capital for the Washington Summit.

NPC CEO Kam Quarles says the Summit is a great time to bring everyone together for a great cause.

“Absolutely! So, about six weeks from now we will be in Washington at the end of February, kicks off on February 26th, again, the merger of the NPC Annual Meeting and our Washington Fly-In. We’ll seat our new board at that time, go through all of our committee process, set policies for the organization, and then go up on Capital Hill and hopefully be able to move the needle on some of these important things.” 

The “to-do” list is long, but Quarles says it may not get done without farmers.

“All of those kinds of things the federal government has a role in, all the way to tax policy and all these other things, it’s really important for folks to be there and recognize that you have to be leaning into these issues because Washington won’t generate the right result on its own. You’ve got to be advocating for yourself.” 

Quarles says the five-day event, beginning February 26th, will be spent delving into many important areas.

“From the markets you can ship your product to, to the way potatoes are classified by the federal government, to the environmental policies, what can you do on your land, what tools can you apply to make your crop more competitive or make it more vulnerable if you don’t have those tools to pests and diseases.” 

Quarles says Washington won’t generate the right result on its own, and farmers have to be advocating for themselves. Learn more about the upcoming event at national potato council dot org.