Washington Spuds are Big Business

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Most folks think of Idaho when they think of potatoes, but farmers in Washington state's Columbia Basin are making their own mark on the nation's potato industry.

Chris Voigt is the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission. He told The Spokesman-Review that though the state only has 250 potato growers, the crop is worth $7.4 billion to the state's economy each year.

But it's a competitive market with low profit margins, and as a result nearly all of the state's potato farms are large, high-tech operations rather than small mom-and-pop farms.

Voigt says that on a good year, potato farmers might make a 4 percent return on their investment. That means to make a living, they've had to grow bigger.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington accounts for 23 percent of the national industry.

Ryan Holterhoff of the Potato Commission says “We have this very important and vibrant potato industry going on here in Washington,” he said. “And if you get outside of the Columbia Basin, a lot of people don’t even know that exists.”

That’s largely because about 70 percent of the 10 billion pounds of potatoes grown annually in Washington are exported.

“Right now the country of Japan buys more potatoes from Washington than anywhere else in the world,” Holterhoff said.

American consumers also rarely see Washington potatoes on the supermarket shelves, because most are sold to processing plants in Washington – like Lamb Weston, Simplot and McCain Foods. These plants process the potatoes, turning them into french fries, potato flour, potato chips, frozen potato products or other goods.

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