By Lynsey Mukomel
Michigan potato producers will have an opportunity to vote to decide whether to accept the proposed amendment to the Michigan Potato Industry Commission, Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) Director Tim Boring announced today. The referendum will be conducted Feb. 3-14, 2025.
Petitions signed by potato producers were submitted to MDARD in October 2024, requesting the proposed amendment to the program, including an assessment cap increase up to nine and a half (currently the cap is maxed at five and a half) cents per hundredweight on potatoes grown in the state. Per the statute, this only involves growers with 20 or more acres in the production of potatoes.
MDARD will mail ballots to potato producers today, Jan. 28. Producers are eligible to vote if all assessments were fully paid by July 15, 2024 (due date of the final quarterly report for the 2023 crop).
For this referendum, each producer is entitled to one vote representing a single firm, individual proprietorship, corporation, company, association, partnership, or a husband-wife or family ownership. All ballots must be filled out completely, signed and postmarked by Feb. 14, 2025, and should be sent to:
MDARD, Executive Office
P.O. Box 30017
Lansing, MI 48909
The Michigan Potato Industry Commission was created to promote the potato industry through research, promotion, advertising, and market development and expansion of the state's potato industry.
Eligible producers with questions or those not receiving a ballot should contact MDARD toll-free at 800-292-3939.
Source : michigan.gov