It is believed that the U.S. potato industry continues to pressure Japan to let the import of freshly harvested U.S. potatoes. Japan is an important destination for potatoes processed in and the United States, but it is not able to permit the fresh U.S. potato imports.

“It’s very popular for potato processing We also got access to chips for potatoes three years ago.” claimed National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles. “But there’s not any freshly harvested table stock potatoes available.” In the event that United States is allowed to export fresh potatoes to Japan this would bring about 10% growth of fresh U.S. potato exports, according to Quarles.

The NPC estimates that if complete market access to freshly harvested U.S. potatoes to Japan can be realized, it will yield an additional 150 million dollars annually in exports. In opening Japan for freshly harvested U.S. potato exports would profit Idaho producers and also the U.S. industry in general as per industry experts.

“We are awestruck by markets we can export to, as it takes a bit pressure off our own domestic production,” said Idaho Potato Commission Chief Executive Officer Jamey Higham. “We believe the Idaho product would be very popular throughout Japan.”

Idaho ranks first in the country for the total amount of potatoes produced. The state’s most popular product in terms of revenues, and they’re the item which Idaho is best known for. Idaho cultivators produce 14 billion pounds worth of potatoes each year. That’s about 1/3 of the country’s entire spud production.

Based on a unique NPC report it was revealed that this U.S. potato sector had estimated a $11 billion impact on the national economy by 2021. According to the “Spud Nation” report, around 20 percent of American potato exports are to the world market and result in nearly $4.8 billion in economic benefits to the national economy, and creates more than 34,000 people.

The report further found export markets to be an important source of revenue that is important for the U.S. potato industry. A little more than 20 percent of potatoes that are grown within the United States are exported, whether fresh or as transformed potatoes.

On April 11th an all-bipartisan group comprised of 10- U.S. senators, including two senators from Idaho wrote to President Obama urging for him to keep pushing Japan to grant acces to freshly harvested U.S. potatoes. According to the letter fresh potatoes are available to Japan was initially requested nearly 30 years ago.

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Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

State Office

Tel. : +1 (208) 232-7914

www.idahofb.org