Michigan potato growers are calling on state lawmakers to repeal an outdated licensing rule from the 1960s. The request focuses on the Potato Dealers Act, which requires wholesale potato dealers to register with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and maintain a US$100,000 bond to cover potential debts to suppliers in case of bankruptcy.
Kelly Turner, Executive Director of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission, recently testified before the Michigan House Agriculture Committee in support of removing the rule.
"This program, when it was put into place, made a lot of sense because there were a lot more potato distributors around the state," Turner said. "The supply chain really has kind of shortened."
Turner explained that the law is outdated and no longer reflects the structure of today's potato industry. She said the program was last used in the 1990s and failed to provide meaningful protection even then.
"And there were quite a few farmers at that time who were affected," she said. "They were owed a lot of money, and even at that time in the '90s, this program didn't cover 10 percent of the loss that those farmers incurred."
The proposed repeal measure has advanced from committee and is scheduled for a second reading by the Rules Committee. If passed, the change would remove a long-unused regulatory requirement while maintaining other standard business protections within Michigan's agricultural sector.
Source: Brownfield
