LANSING – Potato growers in the state have voted to continue the Michigan Potato Industry Commission.

The Commission was designed to promote the potato industry through research, promotion, advertising, and market development and expansion. It must be renewed every five years.

The program is paid for by an assessment on potatoes growers.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says current assessment rate is not to exceed 5-1/2 cents per hundredweight for the grower and 1-1/2 cents per hundredweight for the first handler.

A total of 19 valid ballots were cast in the referendum. Of those, 17 producers voted yes (89.5 percent) representing 9,471,678 hundredweight of potatoes (88.2 present of the production volume represented) and 2 producers voted no (10.5 percent) representing 1,266,900 hundredweight (11.8 percent).

Ted Hanson of Cornell currently serves on the commission.