May 15, 2009

Potato Farmer Tackles Industry Issues

As the new president of the National Potato Council (NPC), Ed Schneider of Schneider Farms, Pasco, Wash., has had to deal with a lot of unexpected issues.

There’s the Mexican tariff situation. In March, Mexico – retaliating against a U.S. ban on Mexican trucks – instituted tariffs on several U.S. agricultural imports, including a 20 percent tax on potato products. The tax could drive away customers of U.S. potato products. As a processing grower, Schneider’s own customers are affected by the Mexican tariffs. He’s been working with growers and NPC on finding ways to resolve the situation.

On another front, potato processors in January said they couldn’t pay as much as previously agreed to, and new contract prices were set. It helped that input costs – fuel and chemicals – have dropped, so Schneider said growers are still in good shape.

Another issue that growers in the Pacific Northwest saw coming was the metam sodium re-registration. Growers and state organizations had been working with EPA and the discussions were good, but they were surprised when the document came out and was so restrictive, Schneider said.

It wasn’t just the large buffer zones that worried growers, but the monitoring requirements and the notifications of everyone around the field and various local and state agencies. Fortunately, EPA’s final document wasn’t “final” – growers were able to comment on it and a second “final” version is expected in July.

Another unexpected issue appeared in April. McDonald’s, after proposals submitted by its shareholders, announced it would be developing a program to cut back on the amount of pesticides used in production of its fries. The company already had a sustainability program, but singling out pesticides on potatoes caught everyone off guard. Historically, McDonald’s has resisted being forced into policy changes, Schneider said.

Even with the unexpected issues he’s had to address, Schneider has a few programs he wants to move forward with. The first is the pesticide data collection project that was started a couple of years ago. It’s even more important now, with customers committing to cutting back on pesticide use and some important chemicals going out of production.

“It’s close, but it needs some work,” he said.

He also wants to continue working on the sustainability program. NPC started working on a sustainability document about a year and a half ago. The council was working with the Specialty Crop Alliance, Keystone and Leonardo Academy on their sustainability programs, and found the potato industry was ahead of the curve, Schneider said. The industry already has an audit outline and a good framework for moving forward.

Schneider was elected as NPC’s 2009 president in January. He succeeds Rich Polatis of Blackfoot, Idaho.

Schneider has farmed in southern Washington since graduating from Washington State University in 1977 with a degree in agricultural economics. His parents moved the family to the Pasco area from California in the mid-‘60s, when the wells dried up. Other families from California had settled there, and the Schneiders went right back to farming, growing hay as they’d done in California.

Schneider knew he wanted to return to the farm his parents started – and while he was at college they put in the first crop of potatoes. He returned to the farm, raising potatoes, and took it over when his parents retired in 1982. He now farms with his wife, Liz, who helps with the books. They raised two daughters on the farm.

Schneider has grown the operation to almost 2,000 acres, with 1,400 acres dedicated to potatoes and 500 acres to sweet corn and wheat. Schneider grows for processors – his largest customer is Simplot. He grows Ranger Russet potatoes, and two years ago he switched some acres over to yellow potatoes – Bintje variety – that are used as baby bakers in a roasted product by Simplot.

He’s been involved with industry organizations for some time. Between 1996 and 2005, he served on every committee of the Washington State Potato Commission, and in 2001-2002 was chairman. During his time with the state commission, he worked closely with NPC and saw what was happening at the national level.

“There was a need there that wasn’t being filled,” he said. “It made us more proactive rather than reactive to issues that affect our industry.”

In 2006, he was elected to NPC’s executive committee as vice president of legislative and government affairs, a position he held until his election as president.