New USPB President

New USPB President. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Back in August, Blair Richardson was named the new President and CEO of the United States Potato Board. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with him for a chat and he seemed very excited to be a part of the potato industry.

RICHARDSON: I’m very excited about being here, Greg. It’s been great six-months and it’s been fast and furious and next couple of months will be on the road continuously but a lot to learn and a lot to see.

Coming in from outside the potato industry allows Richardson to have an objective view which of course includes a lot of challenges.

RICHARDSON: Well I think there are a lot of challenges out there and you can get real serious about it, some of these things are pretty big, everything from the issue of the GMO potato all the way out to the diseases we are facing in the industry and consumer acceptance and the need for consumers to feel like it’s ok to eat potatoes. They all love them but it’s just being given permission to eat them. You know there’s some tough things to overcome.

As Richardson mentioned, one of the really difficult issues is genetically modified potatoes.

RICHARDSON: Well that’s a really difficult position for an industry organization to be in the middle of. No matter what we do you are going to come under fire at some level. The best we can do is understand the science behind that they’re doing and from everything I’ve seen it look alike it’s perfectly safe. What we’re really more concerned about - not the potato so much but public perception and policy maker perception, here and abroad.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.