Apr 17, 2018Potatoes USA appoints leaders to domestic marketing committee
Two growers with over six decades of combined farming experience have been chosen to lead Potatoes USA’s Domestic Marketing Committee. Phil Hickman of Horntown, Virginia and Jaren Raybould of Saint Anthony, Idaho were elected to the Potatoes USA Executive Committee on March 15 at the organization’s 46th Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. 
Hickman will be serving his fourth year on the board and his first year as a domestic marketing committee co-chair after serving the past three years as the finance committee chair. Hickman previously served six years on the board from 2003-2009 during which time he served as on the domestic marketing committee from 2006-2009. Raybould will be serving his third year on the board and his first year on the executive committee.
Hickman owns and serves as president of Dublin Farms, where he grows Envol, Red Norland, Yukon Gold, Superior and Dark Red Norland potato varieties for the table-stock market. Hickman has been farming potatoes at Dublin Farms for the past 44 years with his brother and now his sons and nephews.
Raybould has been farming for the past 17 years and is currently at Raybould Brothers Farm. He focuses on fresh and process varieties of potatoes. Raybould is also a board member of the Yellowstone Soil Conservation District and a member of the Idaho/East Oregon Potato Control Committee.
The domestic marketing committee oversees the consumer, nutrition, retail, ingredient and foodservice programs. The committee is focused encouraging more people to eat more potatoes in more ways and for positioning potatoes as a performance food. The marketing programs are designed to inspire potato innovation across all channels, cultivate strategic partnerships, and advocate for scientific research to demonstrate the role of potatoes in “enhancing physical and mental performance.”
