Washington grower named National Potato Council president

Ted Tschirky, a processing potato grower from Pasco, Wash., has been elected as president of the National Potato Council, which installed Tschirky during its annual Washington Summit, held Feb. 24-28.

He had served as NPC’s first vice president and vice president of trade affairs and has been actively involved in state and national potato associations for more than 20 years. A third-generation farmer in Washington’s Columbia River basin, Tschirky served on the Washington State Potato Commission before joining NPC in a leadership role.

Tschirky, who represented and advocated for his state’s potato industry, said he understands the importance of strong relationships with state and federal representatives for the overall health of the industry.

“Washington is a trade-dependent state, and a lot of our products are exported out of the state,” he told The Packer.

Tschirky said Washington growers are on the forefront of selling potato products to Japan and South Korea, adding that he understands the importance of trade to the country’s potato growers as well as fellow growers in his state.

Tschirky’s first “official” farming project was with Future Farmers of America growing potatoes for Lamb Weston at age 18. He has carried on his family’s legacy, which started with his great-grandparents migrating from Switzerland and settling in Oregon. His father started Tschirky Farms in the 1950s in Washington. He is joined by his wife Meredith and sons Tyler and Dylan. Tschirky said he’s started to transition some acres to Tyler to manage.

“It a lot harder than you think when you start transitioning your livelihood into your son’s name,” he said. “Hopefully, he succeeds and grows the business in the future.”

The full NPC Executive Committee roster includes:

• Ted Tschirky (Pasco, Wash.) — president.
• Ben Sklarczyk (Johannesburg, Mich.) — first vice president and vice president of grower outreach and industry research.
• Chris Olsen (Othello, Wash.) — vice president of environmental affairs.
• TJ Hall (Hoople, N.D.) — vice president of finance.
• Dean Gibson (Paul, Idaho) — vice president of legislative affairs.
• Brett Jensen (Idaho Falls, Idaho) — vice president of trade affairs.
• Bob Mattive (Monte Vista, Colo.) — immediate past president.
• Kam Quarles (NPC CEO) — nonvoting member.