3 minute read
NPC NEWS
Washington grower shared hosting duties in Nashville with past presidents
June 16-17, National Potato Council (NPC) President Jared Balcom welcomed the industry to NPC’s Summer Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Traditionally held in the NPC president’s home state, the Washington grower co-hosted the event in a neutral city along with 2021 President Dominic LaJoie from Maine and 2020 President Britt Raybould from Idaho after the pandemic caused the Council to hold meetings virtually during their presidencies. In addition to being sponsored by all three states, attendees enjoyed a tristate dinner featuring food and drinks flown in for the event, including New York strip steaks from Washington, wine from grapes grown on Balcom’s farm, fresh lobster from Maine, and Idaho-grown huckleberries used in dessert. The event included committee and board meetings, a discussion about how global and national challenges are impacting November’s general election, an overview of the industry’s trade agenda, and John Toaspern’s final market report before he retired from his duties as Potatoes USA chief marketing officer at the end of the month. Additionally, attendees got a taste of Music City, with performances held at Blake Shelton’s rooftop bar, Ole Red. Performing were singer Amber Leigh; Nashville-based songwriters
National Potato Council President Jared Balcom welcomed the industry to the Summer Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lee Thomas Miller and Wendell Mobley, who have a combined 17 #1 hits penned between them; and Rich Redmond, who drums for Jason Aldean when he’s not speaking to groups about his energetic and positive philosophy for success. Thanks to all those who joined the NPC, and we’re looking forward to hosting the industry again, in January, at Potato Expo 2023 in Colorado! For more information, visit https://www. nationalpotatocouncil.org/potatoexpo/.
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Amber Leigh entertained the NPC Summer Meeting crowd with fiddle music at an evening event sponsored by the Washington State Potato Commission. Nashville songwriters Wendell Mobley (left) and Lee Thomas Miller shared their stories with America’s potato growers and brought the house down at the NPC Summer Meeting.
President Biden Signs Ocean Shipping Reform Act into Law
The bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act (S. 3580), which aims to end port bottlenecks by lowering shipping rates and ensuring more access to container vessels, was officially signed into law Thursday, June 16, by President Joe Biden at a White House event. Efforts on the legislation began last year and different versions of the bill have volleyed back and forth between the U.S. House and Senate. The law as passed is designed to: • Stop international ocean carriers from unreasonably declining
American cargo, as determined by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in a new required rulemaking • Direct the FMC to self-initiate investigations of ocean carrier business practices and apply enforcement measures • Shift the burden of proof regarding demurrage and detention overcharges from the complainant to the international ocean carriers • Improve transparency of movement of U.S. agriculture and other exports by requiring international ocean carriers to report to the
FMC regarding how many empty containers are being transported • Stop retaliation by international shipping companies against exporters and importers • Formally establish the FMC Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute
Resolution Services to improve the complaint and investigation process for American businesses seeking assistance from the FMC • Improve management of chassis by authorizing the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics to collect data on dwell time for chassis and initiate a National Academy of
Sciences study on best practices of chassis movement • Provide FMC with temporary emergency authority to collect data during times of emergency congestion The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that over $25 billion in ag exports have been lost over the past six months due to supply chain shipping disruptions.
