News on Potato Varieties and Seed from Northern America

October 19, 2021

It's shaping up to be a banner year for Aroostook County (Maine) potatoes

Don Flannery, president of the Maine Potato Board, is not calling it a record year — yet. But with over 80 percent of this season’s potatoes out of the ground, the longtime industry expert said yields are shaping up to be above average.

October 14, 2021

Tasteful Selections named in Inc. Magazines Annual List of Americas Fastest-Growing Private Companies—the Inc. 5000

Inc. magazine revealed that Tasteful Selections® ranked No. 3644 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.

October 03, 2021

New Potato Variety Will Help Age-Old Crop Prosper Beyond the 21st Century

Tubers have battled various scourges for about 10,000 years, as well as an unpredictable climate that can cause unseasonable frost damage to crops every year.

October 01, 2021

Potato Harvest in Western New Brunswick

In New Brunswick’s potato belt, the spud is king, yielding two billion pounds of product for a $1.5 billion industry during the annual fall harvest. This year’s potato crop is bigger and better than 2020, thanks to warm weather and good rain over the summer growing season.

September 30, 2021

Breeding beetle-resistant potatoes

In a new study, published in Crop Science, researchers describe genetic tools to develop potato varieties with improved natural resistance to the Colorado potato beetle

September 20, 2021

MountainKing: The quality of the Colorado potato crop 'extraordinary'

As MountainKing readies for its fall harvest, early tests from its fields in Colorado’s San Luis Valley offer encouraging signs for several of the brand’s gourmet varieties including its yellow-flesh varietals.

September 18, 2021

Launching new sweet potato line and earth-friendly packaging options for potatoes

Progressive Produce grows, packs and ships a wide variety of year-round produce, farming thousands of acres throughout North and South America.

September 12, 2021

Canadian Potato Crop Update September 6 2021

Weather patterns have continued to influence the outlook for the Canadian potato crop since UPGC’s last update. Eastern Canada (particularly PEI) has received record amounts of rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

September 01, 2021

Idaho potato growers brace for poor crop amid drought, heat

The hot, dry and smoky growing season has left some Idaho potato farmers bracing for a poor crop. For Randy Hardy of Oakley, harvest will likely be the worst of his career.

August 29, 2021

Heat, drought stress Red River Valley potato crop, resulting in quality, yield reduction of table stock

The toll that hot dry weather took on the Red River Valley 2021 potato crop won’t be visible until harvest begins in a few weeks, but it’s already clear it has affected yields and quality.

Cynthia Wilson (Diné), director of Utah Diné Bikéyah Traditional Foods Program, holds potatoes that have grown in Utah for more than 11000 years

August 29, 2021

11000 year old solution to modern problem: Ancient potato could thrive in changing climate

With drought a persistent problem in the Southwest, Hopi/Tewa seed keeper Valerie Nuvayestewa has eagerly joined the effort to bring back an Indigenous superfood that her ancestors cultivated for 11000 years.

Biochemistry offers path to help reduce huge losses in potato industry

August 26, 2021

Unraveling the wound-healing process in potatoes

Losses in the United States' number one vegetable crop, potatoes, aren't only due to pests or drought, they’re due to damage in the handling and storage of potatoes as well. Understanding the wound-healing process in potatoes may help reduce these losses.

Potato LEAF Awards 2021-22 Scholarship to Thilani Jayakody Outstanding Michigan State Graduate Student Receives Award for Potato Research

August 23, 2021

Potato LEAF Awards 2021-22 Scholarship to Thilani Jayakody for her Potato Research

The Potato Leadership, Education and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF) is pleased to announce Thilani Jayakody, as the recipient of its 2021-22 Academic Scholarship.

August 12, 2021

All-Yellow Flesh Potatoes Continue Upward Trend in Volume Sales, Profits

All-yellow flesh potatoes continue to rise above russets, reds and whites in the critical metric of retailer volume sales, an encouraging sign for grocers as growers ready for their upcoming fall harvests.

Québec Parmentier strengthens its leadership position in the potato industry

August 10, 2021

Québec Parmentier strengthens its leadership position in the seed and table potato market

Québec Parmentier today announced the acquisition of two potato production companies, Les Fermes Petite Nation and Les Pommes de terre du Témiscamingue.

Many of us remember RNA from high school biology, where we were taught that the RNA molecule reads DNA, then makes proteins to carry out tasks

July 25, 2021

RNA breakthrough creates crops that can yield 50% more potatoes, rice

Manipulating RNA can dramatically increase the yield of potato plants, as well as increasing drought tolerance, announced a group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking University and Guizhou University.

July 12, 2021

US pushes Mexico for approval of GM crops, access to potato market

The United States pressured Mexico on Wednesday to allow genetically modified crops into the country and to open up access to U.S.-grown potatoes. Trade talks were held Wednesday in Mexico City.

June 17, 2021

US Sales of Fingerlings, Gourmet Varietal Potatoes Continue to Climb

As shoppers stock up for the summer grilling season, new national sales data indicates US sales of fingerlings and smaller-sized gourmet varietal potatoes, both popular for backyard cookouts, remain on a solid, upward ascent.