News on The Potato Supply Chain from the United States

May 16, 2008

Five million ton Canadian potatoes and how to prepare them

Five million tonnes of spuds. That's how many potatoes Canadian farmers produce each year. Most of those are processed and sliced into potato chips or frozen into french fries for fast-food joints here and around the world. But there is a multitude of...

May 14, 2008

White potatoes back in US federal nutrition program WIC

White potatoes are due to be back in a federal nutrition program for low-income women and children. After lobbying by Idaho's congressional delegation, the potato was included from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutrition programs, including the...

May 08, 2008

World Potato Congress invites nominations for Industry Awards

The President of the World Potato Congress (WPC) Inc. Mr Allan Parker, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and the Chairman of the WPC Awards Committee, Mr Douglas (Doug) Harley, Kinross, Scotland, have announced that nominations are now being called for t...

May 06, 2008

Regional potato extension/research group (NCERA) meets

The NCERA (North Central Research and Extension Activity) 205 group met in East Lansing during late March 2008. The group was composed of members from Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado and Nebraska potato industries. Michigan atten...

May 06, 2008

University of Idaho Extension Web Site Helping Potato Growers

Farms whose produce is used in federal food programs or sold to an increasing number of major processors and fresh packers must pass U.S. Department of Agriculture Good Agricultural Practices audits, a task that can be daunting. To help Idaho's potato...

May 06, 2008

U.S., Canada make deal on potato cyst rules

The U.S. and Canada have agreed on a new protocol to deal more effectively with future outbreaks of potato cyst nematodes. Under the new protocol, dirt from fields in Canada and the U.S. that produce seed potatoes will need to be sampled using a full-f...

May 04, 2008

Potatoes: They're not just for side dishes anymore.

Among the most maligned and misunderstood of vegetables, the lowly potato may be poised to save the world. Or, at least, many of the world's hungry and poor, according to the United Nations, which has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato....

April 29, 2008

Idaho growers see role for spuds in food crisis

As food prices around the world climb, Idaho's potato growers are hoping a renewed push for their products brings a healthy return. But they're also pushing potatoes as a way to help hungry people abroad who can't afford much else. The World Bank estim...

April 22, 2008

Nourishing Our Future at the World Potato Congress 2009

"Nourishing our future” is the theme for the World Potato Congress 2009 (WPC 2009), with a focus around the nutritional and sustainable aspects of the potato. Chairman of the Potato Product Group of Horticulture New Zealand, Terry Olsen said that ...

April 18, 2008

Innovations needed to boost spud sales, says new chief of US Potato Board

New varieties and packaging styles worked for apples, tomatoes and berries. The same kind of innovations could give spuds a boost at retail, too, according to the new head of the U.S. Potato Board. Shoppers are demanding more choice, and potato growers...

April 11, 2008

Washington State Potato Conference 2009 held in Kennewick instead of Moses Lake

At a special meeting Thursday, the Washington State Potato Conference and Trade Show board voted unanimously to relocate the 2009 event to the Tri-Cities Convention Center in Kennewick, instead of in Moses Lake, its base since its inception 47 years ag...

April 09, 2008

Wada Farms and Farm Fresh Direct form Category Partners LLC

Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC, Idaho Falls, and Farm Fresh Direct LLC, Monte Vista, Colo., have formed Category Partners LLC, a marketing company that will concentrate on category management, innovative products and packaging and promotions, according...

April 04, 2008

Idaho Potato Commission Launches iTuber Video Contest Take II

The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) today launched the iTuber Take II video contest on the popular website, YouTube, inviting spud lovers from across the country to work their magic in front of the camera with America's favorite vegetable: the Idaho Pot...

April 03, 2008

ConAgra Foods Bought Watts Brothers For $132M Cash

ConAgra Foods Inc. bought Watts Brothers, a private vegetable-processing and agricultural company, for about $132 million in cash and assumed liabilities. In a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ConAgra said that the assumed ...

April 01, 2008

Red River Valley stumbles in joining United Potato

Four months after potato growers in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota agreed to join Salt Lake City-based United Potato Growers of America, that membership could be in jeopardy, adding another chapter to an on-again/off-again relations...

April 01, 2008

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service New inspection process laid out for Canadian potatoes

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service has established a new destination inspection process for Canadian potatoes entering the U.S., as part of a new trade agreement between the two countries.The objective of this process i...

March 31, 2008

Bart Connors Selected To Lead 2008-2009 United States Potato Board

Bart Connors of Pasco, WA, was elected Chairman of the United States Potato Board (USPB) on March 14 at the organization’s Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. Connors is the general manager of Skone & Connors Produce.

March 31, 2008

United States Potato Board Elects New Leadership

The United States Potato Board (USPB) grower membership elected new leadership during its Annual Meeting held in Denver, CO, March 12-14. The following sections list the leadership for the coming year. CHAIRMAN Bart Connors (Pasco , WA) DO...