LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s potato growers unanimously approved a referendum continuing the Michigan Potato Industry Commission (MPIC), the industry’s marketing and research organization.

The vote, which took place in April, was announced earlier this month. The vote, at 23-0, represented 29 percent of the eligible MPIC membership. This means the commission will continue for an additional five years, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2017.

The current assessment is 3.5 cents per cwt. of potatoes for the grower and 1.5 cents for the first handler. Another way to think of it is a semi truck load of potatoes; that carries with it a $22.50 MPIC assessment, according to Ben Kudwa, executive director of MPIC.

The 23 growers represent about 50 percent of production, or 7.2 million cwt. As with other checkoffs in the state, a majority of the growers voting who represent a majority of the product sold in the previous year must approve continuation of the program.

“It must be quite a cross-section of growers to come up with 50 percent” of production, Kudwa said. “It’s quite a vote, really. I don’t know if there’s ever been a commodity vote in Michigan that’s been 100 percent.”

He stated Michigan is probably eighth or ninth nationally in potato production. The potatoes are worth $165 million in farmgate value.

Kudwa said there’s never been any voiced opposition to the commission. He doesn’t know why only 29 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Deb Merrill, an official at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), was responsible for coordinating the referendum. She said the turnout was relatively good.

In 2008 the apple program was voted on and succeeded, with a 20 percent return, while the carrot program had a successful referendum in 2009 with a 22 percent return. Just last year the wheat program was voted in with an 18 percent return, Merrill said.

This latest vote will allow the MPIC to do the sorts of things it’s been doing all along, which is marketing and research. One example of MPIC-sponsored research is demonstration storage, for both disease and variety. The commission built two facilities for just that purpose, with checkoff money.

“We have an agronomist that can evaluate how well the varieties do in storage,” Kudwa said. “They’ve served us pretty well. There’s always more demand than we can handle.”

MPIC has a Storage Committee that decides what will be put in the storage bins. Another topic of research for MPIC lately has been soil conditions.

“We’re identifying soil quality as a problem across the board, not just potatoes. It affects yield and quality. It’s coming up as an issue more often than we’d like,” Kudwa said.

Another activity the MPIC spearheaded is the prison food program. A number of potato growers situated near prisons in Michigan contribute. To find out more about what MPIC does, check out its website at http://mipotato.com