EEUU: Potato industry commits $5 million to support research program

“This support stems from the great value that our growers and our potato industry see in the University of Wisconsin-Madison research team and the related research facilities,” Tamas Houlihan, executive director of the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, said in a news release.

The funds will be raised by the state’s potato growers in the form of an additional assessment on potato sales, according to the release. The assessment was increased in 2016 from six to seven cents per hundredweight.

“We decided the additional support was needed to make sure the relationship doesn’t end because of a shortfall or cutback in funding to the university,” Steve Diercks, owner of Coloma Farms and WPVGA member, said in the release. “We want to make sure we are able to keep the potato team — which has worked so well for the industry — intact and vibrant.”

The WPVGA and the university plan to celebrate the commitment at the upcoming UW-Extension and WPVGA Grower Education Conference, Feb. 7-9 in Stevens Point, according to the release.