News on Potato Cultivation from Northern America

Potato company RD Offutt halts agricultural expansion in Minnesota

August 04, 2018

Potato company RD Offutt halts controversial agricultural expansion in Minnesota

RD Offutt, the largest potato producer in Minnesota, is backing away from a controversial expansion in the State just south of the Mississippi River headwaters after state regulators insisted on an environmental study of the potential contamination of groundwater.

July 30, 2018

Cavendish Farms closes Fresh Pack Facility on PEI: not enough potatoes on the island

Cavendish Farms announced today that they will close their fresh pack facility in O’Leary, Prince Edward Island due to the limited availability of potatoes on Prince Edward Island

July 29, 2018

Potato Farmers Prince Edward Island are planting more mustard than ever

Potato Growers on Prince Edward Island report they are planting more mustard than ever this year.

July 12, 2018

Maine potatoes healthy, despite heat and lack of rain, but the amount of precipitation remains a concern

Despite widely fluctuating temperatures and a lack of rain, the executive director of the Maine Potato Board said Monday that the state’s potato crop remains healthy.

July 09, 2018

Idaho potato crop on track despite early cool weather

Idaho potato fields looked good as of early July as plants closed in over rows, signaling the tubers are preparing to grow strongly amid the hot-day, cool-night march toward harvest.

McCain trialing multi-species cover crop blend for rotation in Canada’s potato provinces

June 19, 2018

McCain trialing multi-species cover crop blend for rotation in the Canadian potato provinces

Prince Edward Island potato growers are exploring diverse approaches to solve their low organic matter levels with cover crops

Idaho Growers Benefit from Improved Spore Sampling

May 31, 2018

Spore Sampling may alert Idaho Potato Growers faster of Late Blight threat

Potato growers in Idaho will now have the opportunity to learn about the presence of damaging fungal pathogens much earlier, thanks to the efforts of research staff at the University of Idaho. The research team, led by James Woodhall, has placed 14 spore samplers in potato fields across the Snake River Valley.

May 03, 2018

New Brunswick Seed Potato Farmers named Atlantic's 2018 Outstanding Young Farmers

Seed Potato Farmers Robert Anderson and Jill Ebbett of East Glassville, New Brunswick (Canada) were named Atlantic’s Outstanding Young Farmers

May 03, 2018

Arizona Red Potatoes available from May 10th from Pinto Creek

Potandon Produce L.L.C., the exclusive marketing agent for Pinto Creek Co., LLC in Eloy, Arizona, has announced that its fresh potato season will begin on Thursday, May 10th, 2018.

May 01, 2018

The next frontier: potato and precision agriculture

Potato cultivation has a number of quirks that make it both a prime candidate for precision agriculture and a little different than other crops

April 19, 2018

UPEI Precision Agriculture Project focused on Potato Inputs gets boost

A five year research project to develop precision agriculture ('smart') technologies for the use of inputs in potato farming at the University of Prince Edward Island's School of Sustainable Design Engineering received support from NSERC

April 12, 2018

Equipment Upgrade Potato Packing Plant Patates Dolbec in Quebec receives government support

Potato packing company Patates Dolbec Inc. in Quebec just completed an expansion and modernization project supported by the Canadian Government.

April 11, 2018

Fight over water in Klamath Basin affects potato growers

Farmers, fish advocates, tribes and government officials are headed to federal court in California on Wednesday (today) to argue who will get water — and when — in the Klamath Basin.

March 29, 2018

Potato Growers South Florida enjoy a good start of the season

The South Florida potato harvest season has started well, with a good healthy crop taking shape. It has been underway for just over a month and despite cooler weather at the start of the year, South Florida crops escaped any major frost damage.

Idaho Potato Crop of 2017 valued at $1.2 billion, a 22.7% increase!

March 06, 2018

USDA estimates the 2017 Idaho Potato Crop Value at $1.2 billion, up 22.7 percent

The USDA reported the preliminary estimated value for the Idaho® Potato crop of 2017 at USD 1.2 billion, a 22.7% leap from the previous year.

February 26, 2018

Chuck Gunnerson announces retirement as President of the NPPGA

Northern Plains Potato Growers Association (NPPGA) president Chuck Gunnerson, announced his upcoming retirement at the February 20th, NPPGA Annual Meeting in East Grand Forks, MN.

January 13, 2018

When pests graze certain potatoes, yields double

When some Colombian potato varieties are lightly grazed by a pest, the plants respond by growing larger tubers, at times doubling their yields. Researchers see an opportunity and want to know more...

January 13, 2018

Lunchtime is over for the Colorado potato beetle

Chemicals in the leaves of potato plants, produced naturally by the plant, may hold the key to a new way to control Colorado potato beetles - a major pest for potato growers.