News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

Masser Family of Companies (MFC) has announced the newest team member to join their executive leadership team: Tiffany Readinger. She will serve in a newly created role, Vice President of Sales and Category Management.

The Sinaloa state in Mexico is preparing for a historic potato harvest in 2025, with a planted area exceeding 17 thousand hectares, a notable increase compared to previous years with an estimated production of over 500 thousand tons.

The success of the potato industry is built on growers’ ability to introduce new potato varieties that meet market demands. For example, when snack-size bags of potato chips were popularized, the industry responded by breeding smaller potatoes for smaller chips to fit into the bags.

National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles issued the following statement congratulating Brooke Rollins, who was confirmed today by the full Senate to serve as Secretary of the USA Department of Agriculture

The Prince Edward Island Potato Board is closely monitoring the evolving situation regarding the 25% tariff imposed on Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump, which will undoubtedly have an impact on potato exports from Prince Edward Island.

USA retail sales of potatoes remained strong from January–December 2024, as volume sales increased 3.1%, and dollar sales rose 0.7% to $18.2 billion. All categories of potatoes increased in volume sales.

New N-FINITY technology gives growers flexibility when making on-farm nitrogen management decisions.

Researchers at North Carolina State University identified the South American Andes as the origin of the Irish potato famine pathogen, Phytophthora infestans

As the third largest potato-producing state in the nation, Wisconsin potatoes have an important story to tell about feeding families with sustainably produced Wisconsin potatoes.

MacEwan University welcomes Angela Santiago, co-founder and CEO of The Little Potato Company Ltd., as the university's 38th Allard Chair in Business.

Susie Thompson associate professor of plant sciences, has been named the inaugural Johansen-Thompson Endowed Professor in Potato Breeding at North Dakota State University. 

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc., a leading global potato supplier, has announced its partnership with Atlas Agro for the procurement of locally produced, green fertilizers. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the appointment of 11 members to Potatoes USA’s Board of Directors. The appointees include nine producer members and one public member, who will serve three-year terms that expire Feb. 28, 2028.

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s updates to the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) initiative, which include an additional USD 650 million investment.

The World Potato Congress has presented the upcoming webinar: Implementation of an Early Warning System for Sustainable Preventative Management of Potato Late Blight.

Rabobank is excited to kick off the New Year by participating in the Potato Expo 2025 in Orlando, Florida. Renowned potato market experts, Stephen Nicholson, Global Sector Strategist – Grains & Oilseeds, and David Magaña, Senior Analyst – Horticulture, will be available at the Rabo AgriFinance booth (#712) to engage with attendees and discuss critical trends and opportunities in the agricultural sector.

In a letter issued to the leaders of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Agriculture Committees, the Co-Chairs of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) expressed their disappointment that specialty crop production – which represents nearly half the farm gate value of American agriculture – is left out of the final year-end economic assistance package negotiated by Congressional leaders.

EUROPLANT America is excited to announce that in conjunction with the reorganization of EUROPLANT Europe to incorporate their breeding and farming structure under the EUROPLANT brand, Potato Seed Solutions is now EUROPLANT America.