Local potato growers discuss pros and cons of joining regional cooperatives
Area potato growers and seed producers met for a midday meeting Tuesday at Kelly?s Venture Inn to go over data from the 2005 Michigan State University freshpack potato variety trials, but the issue that dominated the latter part of the get-together is what Michigan potato producers are going to do about regional cooperatives that are making an impact on the market. In the very near future, Michigan potato producers may have to decide on joining the United Potato Growers cooperative or the Mid-Atlantic cooperative. ?A couple of years ago they started this group to look at trying to reduce the acreage, because acreage was going up. That kept the price of potatoes way down,? said Presque Isle County MSU Extension director Dave Glenn.
Posen farmer Randy Styma said United?s plan is to control production. ?We really feel as if we have nothing to lose by taking a good hard look at this,? Styma said. ?If worse comes to worse, we just go back to the way things were.?
THE OPTIONS potato growers face are joining a regional co-op, starting a state group, or remaining independent. There is no state law requiring farmers to join a co-op. ?It?s all about shipping and marketing,? said Glenn. ?If you know there are a bunch of potatoes in a particular state ? if you know that then you start to know how to market and what to watch, what the supply is.? The downside Styma said is being on the outside looking in. He said, ?there are a lot of big shooters in this (United) organization.?
Even though the growing season for potatoes was hot and dry in 2005, the price has been high, according to Glenn. Part of the reason for the high price is the regional cooperative has stabilized production. If local producers decide to join, there would be certain restrictions such as not being able to increase acreage. Styma said the contacts and the information ?would be pretty substantial.? Some at the meeting said more accurate information might become available.
?AS PRODUCERS join in,? Glenn said, ?they know how many acres are being produced and they are sharing that information back and forth. They know what the real production is because the group says they have 400 weight to the acres, but USDA is saying it is 500. That 100 weight to the acres is a huge difference for storage in terms of marketing. That will drive the price down.? Glenn said the concept of coming up with a package deal to control production and marketing, as well as the price, is different than the way farmers have been doing business. The potential for raising russets is a major concern of the cooperatives, according to Howard Viegelahn. ?The other thing they need is political power. Michigan can give that with one stroke of the pen. We bring a lot of representatives that are interested in agri
GLENN SAID he likes to get area potato and seed producers together prior to attending the annual Michigan Potato Industry Commission meeting, which is February 1 and 2 in Grayling. The meeting is expected to attract producers from all over Michigan. Glenn likes to have the meeting ahead of time so issues can be hashed out and brought to the surface before they talk to their fellow producers. Earlier in the meeting, the local group discussed the 24 varieties that were produced on the Chris Wilk farm. MSU Extension provided an updated report on each variety?s characteristics and defects.
The challenges of high-energy costs also were brought up. Along with diesel fuel reaching record levels, the price for nitrogen fertilizer, which is used on potato crops, is also on the rise. ?Nitrogen fertilizer comes from fuel oil,? said Glenn. ?With fuel prices up, that also drives the fertilizer prices way up.?