News on The Potato Supply Chain from Idaho

The Potato Leadership, Education, and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF) awards its 2022-23 Academic Scholarship to Paige Hickman, a Ph.D. student at University of Idaho, studying plant-parasitic nematodes, insect pests, and diseases of potato.

Soiltech Wireless, a leader in remote crop monitoring and traceability from farm to transport and storage, has completed its seed funding round of USD 2.5 million. Homegrown Capital was the leader in this round along with Great North Ventures

Supplies of Idaho potatoes continue to be extremely tight and will likely gap before fresh crop potatoes come on later this summer.

In as much as it’s possible, Jamey Higham, the new president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission, has potatoes in his blood. Higham, who in February took over leadership of the commission that promotes the state’s most famous product

Snake River Manufacturing, the parent company of Double L and SRM-Kodiak, continues to invest in Southern Idaho. Currently, Snake River Manufacturing is renovating the entire Kodiak corporate and manufacturing office in Burley, Idaho.

The University of Idaho is close to opening a new Seed Potato Germplasm Laboratory, which is the place where most Idaho potatoes are 'born'.

Produce industry veteran Jamey Higham will become the next president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission, effective in early 2022.

Double L Global (Manufacturing) promotes Byron Duffin to Brand President. Prior to Double L, Duffin was with Spudnik for 18 months. Byron’s involvement has helped to rebuild and strengthen the Double L Brand and company.

The hot, dry and smoky growing season has left some Idaho potato farmers bracing for a poor crop. For Randy Hardy of Oakley, harvest will likely be the worst of his career.

Pulling out all the stops to showcase their favorite spuds, retailers nationwide fought hard for the highest honors in the Idaho Potato Commission’s (IPC) 30th annual Idaho® Potato Lovers Display Contest.

Eighteen years ago, the Idaho® potato industry was in crisis. Consumers were shunning potatoes due to the rising popularity of low-carb diets, the new consumer focus on buying local (locavore movement) was beginning to expand across the country and the Idaho® potato farm gate revenue was declining.

Potatoes in the United States and Canada are a commodity. When selecting varieties, the color of the skin tends to be the primary consideration. As the new managing director of HZPC Americas Corp, Jeff Scramlin sees opportunities to increase market share by highlighting the distinguishing characteristics.

Double L, a prominent manufacturer of farm equipment in the Intermountain West, announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by a group of Idaho investors, creating opportunities for growth.

In the end, 2020 was a pretty good year for Idaho’s iconic potato industry, but it sure wasn’t easy.

Given the unusual times of a global pandemic, the Idaho Potato Conference shifted from the annual in-person conference held in Pocatello to three days of virtual presentations.

Enabled by AT&T’s nationwide, highly secure LTE-M cellular network, the Soiltech Sensor precisely records and transmits data for soil moisture, temperature, humidity, location and impacts that may create bruising while crops are being grown, transported, and stored.

During the Idaho Potato Commission's (IPC) October meeting three new Commissioners representing the grower sector of the industry were sworn in.

Farmers all across Idaho will be in their fields from now through most of October collecting the state's signature crop.