Members of National Potato Promotion Board announced

Jan 22, 2015

19 new members will join 13 reappointed members

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

March 19, 2015 will mark the start of a new journey for 19 new people as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the newest members of the National Potato Promotion Board.

They will serve three-year terms representing potato producers as they adhere to the Board’s mission statement of trying to “increase demand for potatoes and potato products through an integrated promotion program, thereby providing US producers with expanding markets for their production”.

The new members are listed below, reappointed members will be italicized.

From Idaho
Alex Tiede, American Falls, Idaho
Jeremy Arnold, Felt, Idaho
Kent Bitter, Shelley, Idaho
Jared Fielding, Shelley, Idaho
Jeff Harper, Mountain Home, Idaho
Dan Moss, DeClo, Idaho
Brian Jones, Rupert, Idaho
Dirk Parkinson, St. Anthony, Idaho
Dewey Crane, King Hill, Idaho
Christopher Wada, Idaho Falls, Idaho
Lynn Wilcox, Rexburg, Idaho

From Washington
Jody Bailie, Mesa, Washington
Douglas Poe, Connell, Washington
Molly Connors, Richland, Washington
Randi R. Hammer, Pasco, Washington

From Minnesota
Jeff Edling, Becker, Minnesota
Gary H. Gray, Clear Lake, Minnesota
Leon J. Hapka, Argyle, Minnesota

From Colorado
Segundo Diaz, Alamosa, Colordao

From Indiana
Kyle Lennard, Howe, Indiana

From New York
Chris Hansen, Bliss, New York

From North Dakota
Jeff VanRay, Pingree, North Dakota

From Rhode Island
Tyler Young, Little Compton, Rhode Island

From Oklahoma
Kyle Slagell, Hydro, Oklahoma

From Virginia
Phillip Hickman, Jr., Horntown, Virginia

From Wisconsin
Heidi Aslum-Randall, Cambria, Wisconsin

Shari Kitchen from Elmira, Michigan, Eric James out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Lon Baley from Merrill, Oregon, Laura Huddle from Napoleon, Ohio and Michael Brooks of Elmer, New Jersey account for the remaining reappointed members.

Marilyn Freeman Dolan from Atwater, California received appointment as the public member.

Idaho is the top potato-growing state in the United States, followed by Washington. The U.S. is the fifth largest producer of potatoes in the world.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.