EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s potato growers have approved a referendum to continue the Michigan Potato Industry Commission.

The Michigan Potato Industry Commission was designed to promote the potato industry through research, promotion, advertising, and market development and expansion. Like other commodity programs sanctioned by the state, the potato program must be renewed every five years by a vote of the growers. The commission will continue for an additional five years beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2027. Currently, the grower assessment is 4.5 cents, and is not to exceed 5.5 cents per hundred pounds of potatoes; there is also a 1.5 cent assessment on the first handler. The assessment rate is established annually by the Commission board, which is appointed by the governor.

There are 51 potato growers in Michigan, who work approximately 47,000 acres of land for potato production. A total of 15 ballots were cast in the referendum, with all 15 voting in favor. For renewal of the program and its activities, more than 50 percent of the voting producers, representing more than 50 percent of potato production, must have approved it. “I always hoped for more voting, because it’s good feedback, but those growers do represent a majority of the acreage grown for potatoes and most actual production,” said Kelly Turner, executive director of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission. “We have all different sizes of growers: we have guys who grow 20 acres of potatoes, and we have guys who grow thousands of acres. The average size of a potato farm in Michigan is approximately 921 acres.

“To me the vote is reassuring, it’s really a validation of the work that we’re doing,” Turner explained. “I’m hoping that all the growers feel good about what we’re doing, whether they voted or not. I also hope that, if anyone is unhappy about any of our work that they would feel comfortable coming to us and letting us know of any changes that they’d like to see.”  

Seventy percent of Michigan grown potatoes are used for potato chips, 20 percent are sold as table stock, five percent are used for processing and another five percent are used as seed potatoes, Turner said. There are five chipping companies in Michigan, including Downey’s, Uncle Ray’s, Better Made and Great Lakes Chip Co. One company, Honeebear Canning Co., processes potatoes. Michigan ranks eighth in the nation in potato production, with an estimated crop of 20 million hundredweight in 2021, up 14 percent from the previous year. Michigan growers planted an estimated 50,000 acres in 2021, 4,000 more than 2020. Harvested acres were estimated at 48,800, up 3,800 from 2020. For more information about Michigan potatoes or the potato commission, visit https://www.mipotato.com/.