News on Potato Varieties and Seed from the United States

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Strong demand for potatoes and potato products and tight domestic supplies continues to drive increases in imports for the current (July – June) marketing year. For July 2020 – March 2021 total imports are up 9 percent, led by an 18% increase in chips and a 15 percent increase in dehydrated potatoes.

Dave Holm was destined to work with potatoes. He was raised on a potato farm in southeast Idaho, where his dad and grandfather instilled in him a love of one of the world’s most important crops.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is extending deregulation to J.R. Simplot Company’s (Simplot) potato variety developed using genetic engineering, designated as Snowden Z6 (Z6 potato).

Eighteen years ago, the Idaho® potato industry was in crisis. Consumers were shunning potatoes due to the rising popularity of low-carb diets, the new consumer focus on buying local (locavore movement) was beginning to expand across the country and the Idaho® potato farm gate revenue was declining.

Potatoes in the United States and Canada are a commodity. When selecting varieties, the color of the skin tends to be the primary consideration. As the new managing director of HZPC Americas Corp, Jeff Scramlin sees opportunities to increase market share by highlighting the distinguishing characteristics.

Genetically distinct from its European counterparts, this coastal Alaska potato predates modern taste for russets and Yukon Golds.

Given the unusual times of a global pandemic, the Idaho Potato Conference shifted from the annual in-person conference held in Pocatello to three days of virtual presentations.

El agricultor Peter Imle intenta reducir a la mitad su cantidad de cromosomas para abrir el camino a muchas nuevas variedades con características más útiles.

Two University of Maine researchers, Greg Porter and Han Tan, are part of a team of plant geneticists and breeders working to develop tools that will help Maine scientists and farmers become more efficient in bringing novel, improved potato varieties to market.

The potato harvest is now underway in the Red River Valley. Yields are all over the board ranging from poor to excellent. Most of the fields with poor yields were damaged by heavy rain that fell on, and around June 30th.

The Idaho potato harvest has started. For Eagle Eye Produce, the harvest kicked off in central Idaho during the first week of August with their russet potatoes.