News on Potato Varieties and Seed from Northern America

Russet potatoes still dominate markets, but specialties are gaining.

Recent growth at Southwind Farms in Heyburn, Idaho, should make it the nation's second largest supplier of fingerling potatoes this season.

Asunta (Susie) Thompson is the winner of the 2012 NPPGA Meritorious Service Award. It was presented to her at NPPGA's annual banquet. This comes on the heals of winning a Meritorious Service Award from the National Potato Council in January. Dr. Thom...

President Obama's budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 proposes cutting $700 million in the USDA's spending levels.The amount represents a 3 percent cut from FY 2012 USDA spending levels.

A potato that's purple on the outside and yellow on the inside is one of four new varieties coming to Montana to help attract new markets for the state's $40 million seed potato industry, says Nina Zidack, director of the Montana State University Potato Lab.

Researchers hope to find potato varieties that form less acrylamide, a naturally occurring chemical compound, when cooked.

The first acrylamide test results have become available from the Washington and Idaho National Fry Processor Trials (NFPT).

Potato industry officials are touting the health benefits of three colorful new varieties developed by the Tri-State Potato Research and Breeding Program in the US.

The PVMI Board has agreed to a $300,000 contribution to the Tri-State University Research and Breeding Program. The money comes from royalties collected this year. Combined with two returns of $100,000 each for the previous two years PVMI has generated...

The popular Yukon Gold potato was a winner at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto this year, where it topped entries in the seventh annual Seed of the Year competition (east division). Developed by the late Garnet (Gary) Johnston, a research...

More than a decade has passed since Jim Tiede was among the growers caught up in a debacle over the first U.S. genetically modified potato variety. Even today, the American Falls, Idaho, farmer copes with the fallout of planting Monsanto's GM potato N...

Here at PotatoPro, we are always on the lookout for new developments and in particular new potatoes. Especially if they are somewhat different from what we are used to. The variety Dark Red Chieftain, fits that profile and that's why were pleased to he...

Klamath Basin Fresh Direct, a cooperative of family farms specializing in high-quality organic potatoes, has recently come out with a new variety called the Amarosa. Hollis Baley, Marketing Manager at Klamath Basin Fresh Direct, describes the new fing...

Golden birch trees marked the edge of Greg Kalal's fields, but the dentist-turned-farmer was more interested in hues beneath the soil on his land south of Mount McKinley. Among the thousands of colorful potatoes — from yellow German Butterballs to Mag...

Will a newly discovered russet potato variety make the Red River Valley a yield contender with the Pacific Northwest? Carl Hoverson of Larimore, N.D., thinks so, and — as one of the key growers for the Simplot-processed potato plant in Grand Forks, N....

The Fabula fields of Cameron Farms, Hampton, Prince Edward Island show good yields with excellent quality. The yellow-fleshed potato, Fabula, has made a splash in the potato marketplace. Although different from Yukon Gold, it is starting to gain a fo...

The J. R. Simplot Company's Plant Sciences business announces Innate™ Technology, the all-native biotechnology platform for improving crops, leading to new, better and healthier foods.

What do Americans love more than French fries and potato chips? The answer: Not much...