Growers face pivotal crossroads for key industry issues

If you look at the 2018 Farm Bill today, it feels like it’s from a different lifetime. In competitive terms, many parts of it are. For specialty crops, the world has changed substantially since the writing of that bill, which began nearly a decade ago.

As the National Potato Council works with Congress and the Trump administration to advocate for legislation that reflects the business conditions in 2026, our goals are twofold: deliver near-term economic relief and create long-term stability through a new farm bill.

This mission reflects the reality our growers are facing. Released during the NPC Washington Summit in February, our 2026 Spud Sector Survey, conducted with Spudman, painted a vivid picture of an industry at a crossroads. While growers are focused on the future, they’re also being squeezed by skyrocketing input costs, labor costs and shortages, and the constant threat of market volatility.

We hear the concerns voiced in the survey loud and clear, and we’re pushing for tools that provide a real safety net and trade opportunities that actually move the needle.

Roadmap for relief

For too long, specialty crops were an afterthought in U.S. farm policy and certainly in economic relief. We learned the hard way during the first round of COVID pandemic relief (CFAP 1) that when the USDA relies on data it doesn’t have, growers lose. Because there’s no futures market for potatoes to track price drops in real-time, the government essentially told us we weren’t hurting — even as mountains of unmarketable potatoes were piling up across the country.

We fixed that. Programs like CFAP 2 and the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program, both launched under the first Trump administration, finally got the math right. They allowed growers to apply based on actual farm revenue and history, proving losses rather than begging a data-deficient agency to notice it.

Now, we’re urging Congress to take the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill framework and make it the handbook for future relief permanent. We shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time a crisis hits. By pairing this model with an increased $900,000 payment limit, we can ensure that high-value, high-cost operations aren’t kicked out of an economic relief program the moment producers need it most.

Breaking decades of deadlock

Safety nets are vital, but a real tailwind for this industry comes from expanding where we can sell our products. For three decades, we’ve been trying to get U.S. fresh table stock potatoes into Japan. After 30 years of talk and technical excuses, the market remains closed.

The stakes are massive. We estimate that opening Japan would create a $150 million annual market for U.S. fresh exports. That’s a roughly 15% jump in our global exports overnight.

With the Japanese prime minister visiting Washington, D.C., in late March, we are doing everything in our power to ensure fresh potato access is a top trade policy priority. We want to see U.S. leverage used to benefit growers from Maine to Washington state.

Investing in farming’s future

NPC’s advocacy is an investment in the future of our family farms and rural communities. Whether through the farm bill or trade diplomacy, we are committed to ensuring our industry has the tools to remain competitive.

Our goal is a proactive system where common-sense policies and expanded markets allow farms to thrive despite the economic challenges highlighted by growers who responded to the Spud Sector Survey.

To learn about survey findings, visit spudman.com/spudsector.

Kam Quarles is CEO of the National Potato Council.