Potato News from Northern America

In the late 1960s, researchers from the US Department of Agriculture, Penn State University, and the Wise Potato Chip Company teamed up breed a very special potato, which they named the Lenape.

Idaho processors have cut potato acres under contract for the coming season by roughly 3 percent, officials with Southeast Idaho Potato Cooperative recently learned.

The pale cyst nematode, Globodera pallida, is one bad roundworm. Unchecked, it invades the roots of potato and other host crops to feed, obstructing the free flow of nutrients and causing stunted growth, wilted leaves, and other symptoms that can event...

At SNAXPO 2013, held earlier this week in Tampa, Florida, Processing Equipment manufacturer Heat and Control showed its new products for snack food processors.

Idaho seems to have won an international trademark dispute over its most famous product.

For the past two seasons, Brendon Rockey has planted peas, chickling vetch and buckwheat in the same rows as potatoes, using a specially designed seeder.

Beloved fries and tots are taking another turn in the limelight, this time nestling under flavorful sauces and bold toppings.

The National Potato Council is investigating options to restore USDA potato stocks estimates cut due to budget sequestration, including industry funding to cover the work or identifying offsetting cuts to less important potato reports.

Potandon Produce LLC announced that Kent Romrell, senior vice president of sales, will retire at the end of March after a career in produce spanning over 30 years.

A U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA ERS) study shows that 43% of new food products in 2010 carried at least one health- and nutrition-related claim, compared to 25% of new products in 2001.

More than two decades after McDonald’s Corp. (MCD)’s outlet on Moscow’s Pushkin Square began offering a golden-arched alternative to grey communist eateries, the fast-food pioneer is on the defensive.

Grippo Foods, Inc, Cincinnati, OH, is initiating a nationwide recall of all bags and boxes of their Plain Potato Chips, Bar-B-Q Potato Chips, Cheddar Cheese with a touch of Jalapeno Potato Chips, Hot Dill Pickle Potato Chips, Sweet Bermuda Onion Potato...

Rising fuel costs and related surcharges continue to increase trucking costs, so the last thing a shipping manager needs is additional fees for improperly reporting the weight of shipments.

It appears that potato psyllids, the tiny winged insects that can spread zebra chip disease in potato fields, will overwinter in Boise, Idaho, this season, despite the city experiencing one of its coldest Januaries on record.

Some farmers on P.E.I. are dealing with the problem of potatoes rotting in storage this winter and growers in the western part of the province are especially hard hit.

The United States Potato Board website for consumers, Potatogoodness.com has been redesigned end 2012.

Tim O’Connor, President and CEO of the U.S. Potato Board, Denver, CO, has accepted an offer to lead a new marketing agency dedicated to the Mexican avocado industry.

Liking curly fries is a smart thing to do. So smart that a computer crunching of millions of Facebook “likes,” independent of the information in your profile, can figure out all kinds of personal and often private details of your life, including your IQ.