Success for Yukon Gem Yellow-fleshed Potato

Smooth-skinned and medium-sized, Yukon Gem potatoes can be baked, roasted, boiled, or processed into golden chips or fries.

Novy, Whitworth, and two now-retired Aberdeen researchers--Joseph J. Pavek and Dennis L. Corsini--tested and evaluated this niche-market tuber for more than a decade before determining, in 2006, that it was ready to offer as a named variety to potato growers, producers of potato seed, and potato breeders and researchers.

Last year, Yukon Gem was planted on a total of 32 acres in five western states. That's a respectable figure for a specialty potato still considered a relative newcomer to the potato industry. The acreage was enough to produce seed for plants that, in all, could yield a total of at least 41 million Yukon Gem potatoes.