Spudman April 2023 - 14

to safe, healthy and affordable food as
well as the plants, flowers and trees
that produce them.
* To advocate for a proportional share
in Farm Bill monies.
On these issues, Andrus will pick up
where outgoing president Jared Balcom
of Pasco, Washington, left off. Balcom
will continue to serve on the council's
executive committee as immediate
past president.
The SEC is considering requiring
publicly traded companies to tally and
disclose information on greenhouse
gas emissions from their farm
and ranch suppliers. The National
Potato Council's position is that the
emissions disclosure requirement
would place undue financial burdens
on producers.
PREPARING TO LEAD
By electing Andrus president, the
commission is turning to an old hand
in the potato industry. In addition
to being a third-generation farmer,
Andrus is a 2006 graduate of the
council's Industry Leadership Institute,
and he said his experience helped him
prepare for his new role.
" It's interesting, because before the
leadership training, I realize now that
I was naive, " Andrus said. " I thought
stuff just happened. Then I participated
in the leadership institute, and it really
opened my eyes. I was blown away
at how many growers are involved
in making the industry better. The
leadership institute prepared me. "
One of the ways the leadership
institute helped Andrus was in dealing
with the media.
" In media training, I was terrified, " he
said. " But, the training prepared me to
be able to talk to the media and to large
groups of people. "
Andrus believes the educational
opportunities offered by the leadership
institute and industry organizations in
general are great resources for new or
younger farms to join.
" I always say, 'Get involved', " Andrus
said. " When we descend on Capitol
Hill, we do it en masse. We have great
numbers participating, and we need
more. It is so crucial to keep lawmakers
apprised of our priorities. We need
14
Spudman * April 2023
Ben Sklarczyk,
vice president,
finance
Ted Tschirky,
vice president,
trade affairs
Jared Balcom,
immediate past
president
Bob Mattive,
first vice president
and vice president of
environmental affairs
Dean Gibson,
vice president,
legislative affairs
TJ Hall,
vice president, grower
outreach and industry
research
New NPC officers:
young people to get involved. My goal
as president is to make our outreach to
lawmakers better and stronger. "
Andrus said that keeping up with
technological advances will continue
to be important to him and to potato
growers nationwide.
" Things change constantly, " he said.
" Technology when I was a kid was so
different from now. The advances in
technology have been huge. "
Improvements in equipment are just
some of the potato industry advances,
he said.
" Pesticides and fertilizers have
improved drastically, " Andrus said. " But
regulations are always changing, too,
whether we keep up or not. And I want
the council to help folks keep up.
" We need everybody's help in the
industry to stand up for potatoes on
Capitol Hill. "
Visit www.spudman.com/news/npcinstalls-2023-executive-committeerj-andrus-elected-president/
to see
a list of all the 2023 NPC officers and
the full report the Specialty Crop Farm
Bill Alliance sent to Congress.

http://www.spudman.com/news/npc-installs-2023-executive-committee-rj-andrus-elected-president/

Spudman April 2023

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