Steve Crane to serve as NPC’s 2012 president
County growers Buck, LaJoie
and McCrum elected to board of directors
WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the National Potato Council’s (NPC) 2012 annual meeting, held Jan. 6-7 in Orlando, Fla., Steve Crane of Exeter, was elected to serve as NPC’s president for 2012 and to lead the executive committee. Maine’s Brent Buck (Buck Farms, Chapman), Dominic LaJoie (LaJoie Growers, LLC, Van Buren) and Darrell McCrum (County Super Spuds, Mars Hill), were also elected to serve on NPC’s board of directors.
NPC’s leadership is comprised of U.S. potato growers, nominated by their state organizations, and elected by their peers.
Crane is the co-owner of Crane Brothers, Inc., where he and his cousin, Jim Crane, are third generation farmers. Crane Brothers farms approximately 3,000 acres of land, 1,300 acres of which are planted for chipping potatoes, while the rest is dedicated to corn and small grains.
Crane served on the NPC’s board of directors for two years before being elected to the executive committee, where he was vice president of the grower and public relations committee, as well as the finance and office procedures committee. Crane also serves on the Maine Potato Seed Board and the Maine Potato Growers board of directors, and has been a local school board member for 16 years. He and his wife, Becky, have three children: Megan (21), Chelsea (19) and Matthew (16).
Crane’s top policy priorities for the upcoming year include modifying the proposed Women, Infants and Children (WIC) rule that bans participants from using WIC vouchers to purchase fresh white potatoes — the only vegetable excluded from the program.
As president, Crane will host the NPC summer meeting being held July 11-13 in Bar Harbor.
