News on Potato Varieties and Seed from the United States

Purple potatoes might not be the first thing that comes to mind when trying to increase vitamin, mineral and antioxidant intake. However, a group of researchers from CSU have recently developed potato varieties that satisfy these nutritional needs and could act as a preventive measure to several diseases.

Potatoes have been bred at Cornell for at least 50 years and 70% of the university’s breeding efforts are focused on developing new chip varieties. Walter De Jong reports.

Colorado based Strohauer Farms are trying out a couple more fingerling varieties this season - adding to an already impressive line-up of specialty potatoes - as they continue to see growth in the fingerling potato segment.

The Little Potato Company announces its plan to set up a new $20 million US Head Office and processing facility in DeForest near Madison, Wisconsin.

Investigadores estadounidenses de la USDA-ARS y la Universidad de Winsconsin-Madison encontraron una papa silvestre con siete veces más calcio que las papas que acostumbramos a ver en los supermercados.

The Two Blades Foundation (2Blades) announced a research partnership between 2Blades, The Sainsbury Laboratory, and J. R. Simplot Company to develop potato varieties with increased resistance to oomycete and bacterial diseases.

A little-understood bacteria is bringing back the older potato disease Blackleg and is threatening the reputation of Maine seed potatoes

Researchers discovered that in a wild variety of potato (Solanum Microdontum) Calcium levels are about seven times higher than in a regular potato. They developed a molecular marker to facilitate the transfer of the high Calcium trait to newly bred potato varieties.

In the United States, the fresh potato category finished 2015 with sales volume off -2.2% with the largest-selling type down -3.2%. But red potatoes, the second-largest seller, bucked the trend by finishing the year slightly ahead.

Celebrate Potato Lover’s Month with a purple flare! Attract shoppers with colorful, specialty varieties on your potato display.

The Food and Drug Administration has completed its food and feed safety assessment of the J.R. Simplot Company’s second generation of Innate® potatoes. Simplot will still need to complete its registration with the Environmental Protection Agency for these potatoes before introducing them for sale in the U.S. marketplace.

In October JetBlue Airways, New York's Hometown Airline™ and TERRA® Real Vegetable Chips, part of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., revealed the T5 Farm -- a blue potato farm and produce garden at Terminal 5 (T5) at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Twenty potato growers from all over the Wisconsin converged on Madison last week for their annual “grill the professors” ritual.

The US Agency for International Development has awarded Michigan State University (MSU) a $5.8 million cooperative agreement to improve potato production in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Additional partners include the University of Minnesota and J.R. Simplot as well as in-country partners in both Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Calyxt, Inc., a Minnesota-based company focusing on developing healthier food products, has announced that it has completed the first field trials of its cold storable potato.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Potato Research Worksite is a unique, invaluable resource that helps develop better chips, fries and dehydrated flakes through improved storage and processing.

Texas-based MountainKing Potatoes is offering retailers the opportunity to cash in on the recent harvest of its popular Gold potatoes with a comprehensive promotion designed to drive sales of the fastest-growing variety among all bagged potatoes.

The Little Potato Company is introducing its newest proprietary Creamer variety - chilean splash - at the Produce Marketing Association’s “Fresh Summit Convention and Expo” in Altanta, GA this week