News on Potato Varieties and Seed from Idaho

EUROPLANT America is excited to announce that in conjunction with the reorganization of EUROPLANT Europe to incorporate their breeding and farming structure under the EUROPLANT brand, Potato Seed Solutions is now EUROPLANT America.

The J.R. Simplot Company has named G.Rey Reinhardt as President of its AgriBusiness Group. Reinhardt will take over for Doug Stone who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Great news for potato producers: 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene (1,4- DMN), a naturally-occurring bio-control that enhances dormancy

University of Idaho doctoral student Lisa Tran’s dissertation has the potential to transform how Idaho’s seed potato certification authority does business.

The University of Idaho is close to opening a new Seed Potato Germplasm Laboratory, which is the place where most Idaho potatoes are 'born'.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As of November 12, 2019 seed potatoes from Montana and Colorado can be used in the Pacific Northwest chipping and tablestock export programs for South Korea.

The focus for Potandon Produce LLC at the New York Produce Show this year will be on the health benefits of potatoes, and particularly of some of Potandon’s proprietary products.

J.R. Simplot has acquired a license for CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene editing tools. This provides Simplot with another avenue to add desirable traits to fruits and vegetables, including potatoes.

USDA-AMS has proposed a rule to revise the classifications that determine the size requirements for potatoes grown in Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon. The proposal would also apply to all import of long type potatoes.

A project underway in Aberdeen, Idaho, aims to develop russet potatoes with resistance to pale cyst nematode, while identifying new molecular markers associated with resistance.

La compañía norteamericana Simplot ha obtenido la aprobación para su papa marca Innate en algunos mercados clave, como Japón. Y tiene pendientes otras solicitudes de acceso a mercados extranjeros.

Two recently released new Russet varieties - Castle Russet and Echo Russet - should help the potato industry in the Pacific Northwest cope with more stringent regulations on soil fumigants

The Northwest Potato Research Consortium recently approved a combined $1.5 million in grant funding to 37 research projects.