Okray: potatoes are perfect
Okray: potatoes are perfect
PLOVER, WI — “I honestly believe this is true: Potatoes are absolutely the best food,” said Dick Okray. “I have never seen a product that is so perfect. Every man, woman and child in this country should include potatoes in their diet.”
Such is the enthusiasm Okray feels for his avocation and occupation.
Okray is in his second six-year term serving on the United States Potato Board. He is also the secretary-treasurer of Okray Family Farms Inc., headquartered on a sprawling packing and warehouse complex in Plover.
Okray’s enthusiasm for the potato industry is unsurprisingly evident as he speaks of Wisconsin production and the USPB.
As to the strength of growing potatoes in Wisconsin, he noted, “Our cool summers and cool evenings make this the perfect potato-growing region.” While Western states dominate the industry — especially to the west of the Rocky Mountains — “We are close to Midwestern markets and closer to the East Coast” than growers beyond the major mountain range.
“We offer really good quality and locally grown flavor,” he said. “We get an order and we deliver the next day.”
Okray noted that another strength of Wisconsin’s potato industry is that “we have less marketing desks. That allows us to strengthen the price for our growers.” There are only seven major shippers in Wisconsin, he noted.
Of the USPB, Okray said” “There is a world-class administration that keeps expenses to a bare minimum.” At the same time, the potato board leverages the growers’ money beyond their input to receive a $5 million U.S. Market Access Program grant and specialty crop technical assistance funding.
The promotional effort allows the U.S. potato industry to reach “the low-hanging fruit in export markets.” U.S. potatoes will stand up to any other potatoes produced in the world, he added. “We can prove that our potatoes make better fries. We have great products and exceptionally excellent people to work with us” on the USPB staff.
Domestically, the USPB “literally keeps potatoes in consumers’ right frontal lobe. That is very key.”
