Challenging conditions remain for Washington potato growers Despite hopes that the end of the pandemic is finally in sight, a host of challenges remain before the Washington potato industry. According to Chris Voigt, Executive Director for the Washington state Potato Commission, one of the biggest challenges is not in the field, but after the spuds are pulled during harvest. He claims that several Washington growers were offered a pricing contract this year that was roughly 3%-3.5% smaller than a typical year. Pnwag.net quoted him as saying: “That’s tough for our growers. We’ve had a very difficult year financially due to the pandemic, and then faced with lower contract prices and potentially volumes, we don’t know where the volumes are, they’re kind of a little all over the board. Some folks will have increases, some folks will have decreases, do it’s a little unsettled.”