New NPC President
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The National Potato Council installed its 2026 Executive Committee leaders at the organization’s Washington Summit.
During the Annual Meeting, Ben Sklarczyk (SKLAR-zik) of Johannesburg, Michigan, was elected to serve as the Council’s President for the next year, and laid out their priorities …
SKLARCZYK … “One of the big focuses that I spoke about when we were at the Washington Summit was having good, consistent quality throughout and doing everything we can from seed to commercial to strengthen the industry to help provide a quality product.”
And from there, Sklarczyk says that leads to exports …
SKLARCZYK … “Looking at export markets and doing all we can to increase and develop as many export markets as possible and doing all we can to help support and open up the fresh potato market into Japan.”
As for all the tough times in agriculture recently, Sklarczyk says they’ll be looking for one thing in particular …
SKLARCZYK … “Opportunities. You know, I think we’ve been having a challenging couple of years, and I think this could be, hopefully, a breakout year for the industry to really have some success and for everybody in the industry to feel like it was a win and a successful year.”
Sklarczyk takes over the NPC President’s position from Pasco, Washington potato farmer Ted Tschirky.
Sklarczyk and his wife, Alison, who serves on the Potatoes USA Board of Directors, reside in Michigan with their two children, Morgan and Dane.
