National Potato Council launches podcast ‘Eye on Potatoes’
Diving deeper into potato industry issues can now be done while in a truck, a tractor or sitting on a plane.
The National Potato Council (NPC) launched a free podcast series Jan. 14, titled “Eye on Potatoes,” to coincide with the start of Potato Expo in Las Vegas. In a pre-announcement interview with Spudman, NPC CEO Kam Quarles said the purpose of the podcast is to serve as an informational platform for both the potato industry and policymakers in Washington D.C.
“Ultimately, our success is measured by how well we communicate on these issues, whether to Capitol Hill, the industry or the folks at the agencies,” Quarles said. “Doing that in the most efficient manner is fundamental to whether or not we’re going to be successful.”
Podcast popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. According to Edison Research and Triton Digital research cited by Forbes, 62 million Americans listen to podcasts each week, up from 13 million in 2013.
Quarles said he’s a big fan of podcasts because of the flexibility of being able to listen while traveling or doing other things. Eye on Potatoes is another way the council is evolving in the way it communicates to both growers and policymakers in D.C., he added.
“You’ve seen that with the video updates we’ve been doing for the past couple of years. People have taken very well to those,” Quarles said. “The podcast is great because you can bring together a number of different voices and have longer-form conversations about important and complicated issues that you can’t get from a one-minute snippet of a video or a brief quote in a press release.”
International trade, agriculture labor and shipping are addressed in the first four episodes of the podcast, which are currently available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
Eye on Potatoes will have a new episode biweekly. The host is Lane Nordlund, a professional television and radio agriculture broadcaster based out of Bozeman, Montana. Nordlund, a Montana native, has been involved in production agriculture his entire life. He provides live televised broadcasts for the Montana Ag Network and hosts a segment on the statewide radio program “Montana Talks Hosted by Aaron Flint.” Nordlund also hosts a podcast for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and produces an agriculture podcast called “The LaneCast,” which focuses on rural and agriculture issues in the western United States.
Several episodes of Eye on Potatoes will be recorded during Potato Expo. They will address topics such as health and nutrition, sustainability, ag research, trends in agriculture and consumption, food labeling, registrations and impacts on potato exports and seed certification and best practices for managing seed.
Here is more information on the four episodes currently available.
- Welcome and Introduction. Guest: Kam Quarles, NPC CEO
- The International Trade Environment. Guests: Matt Lantz, Vice President of Global Access, Bryant Christie; Jared Balcom, NPC Vice President of the Trade Affairs Committee and President of Balcom and Moe, Pasco, Washington.; Quarles.
- Immigration and Ag Guest Worker Reforms. Guests: Mike Carlton, Director of Labor Relations Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association; Ralph Child, owner of Childstock Farms in Malone, New York; Quarles
- Ag Transportation in the 21st Century. Guests: Jon Sampson, executive director of the American Trucking Associations’ Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference; Dominic LaJoie, majority owner and partner of LaJoie Growers Vegetable Operations in Aroostook County, Maine; Quarles.
