Potato News

Australian companies offer commercial opportunities for potato waste

Four of the largest potato producers in Australia want to convert 100 per cent of their potato waste into commercial benefit through their partnership with the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Over the next three years, The Mitolo Group, Zerella Fresh, Thomas Foods International Fresh Produce, The South Australian Potato Company, together with Industry Association; Potatoes South Australia Inc, and the University of Adelaide will invest nearly $1m in this research and development to save up to 100,000 tonnes of potatoes currently going to waste every year.
3/7/2020

Taking a look at storage costs after CIPC removal

The removal of CIPC in the UK next season has pushed the burden onto other tools in the box. However, how cost effective these treatments are at current market prices is a question on many people’s mind, according to a release published by AHDB Potatoes. Using estimated chemical costs from Sutton Bridge and industry costings from the Potato Storage Calculator, AHDB specialists have calculated the estimated cost per tonne of storing in a refrigerated packing and ambient processing store for 8 months under different storage regimes.
3/3/2020

CIPC ban: 'European potato sector is facing a major challenge' – Belgapom

The European Commission has decided that the potato sprout inhibitor chlorpropham (CIPC) is no longer allowed to be applied to potatoes in storage from January 1st this year. The entire European potato sector is therefore facing a challenge, according to industry experts. “In Belgium, it is mainly potato processing and exports that are affected by the ban, since the measure targets the storage potatoes,” Romain Cools and Marc Van Herreweghe of Belgapom told FreshPlaza during a recent interview.
2/29/2020

Potato diseases: Control of Rhizoctonia solani podcast

Mike Abram, from the Communications team of Bayer Crop Sciences in the UK, recently caught up with Sam Harvey, who is a Commercial Technical Manager for Bayer, based in and around the Cambridgeshire area. They discussed potatoes and in particular how to control seed- and soil-borne potato diseases. Controlling seed- and soil-borne diseases is important for both good establishment and ultimately potato quality and skin finish,” Sam Harvey says.
2/29/2020

Canadian drone service company helps farmers to assess crop health

Lee Dodson from Summerside on Prince Edward Island believes he has found a technological way for farmers to have detailed knowledge of the health of their fields without stepping outside. Dodson, CEO of Skygate Drone Services, was one of about 120 exhibitors at this year’s International Potato Technology Expo in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island this past Friday and Saturday. Dodson’s company involves flying a drone equipped with a multispectral crop imaging sensor over a farmer’s field to photograph and produce various computerized maps that show health issues.
2/28/2020

Ireland: Second lowest acreage of potatoes planted in 2019

The area of potatoes planted in Ireland in 2019 was the second lowest on record, after 2018, which was the lowest on record. There was also a further decrease in the plantings of traditional varieties such as Kerr’s Pink and Golden Wonders. Speaking at the recent National Potato conference in Dublin IFA president Tim Cullinan said farmers continue to be the poor relation within the supply chain. He outlined how retailers are taking the lion’s share of the margin on potatoes, while farmers bear all of the risk.
2/27/2020

Specialist: Why the physiological age of potato seed tubers matters

According to Carrie Huffman Wohleb, Associate Professor and Regional Specialist – Potato, Vegetable, and Seed Crops at Washington State University, physiological age is an important concept in potato production. “The physiological age of seed tubers determines when the buds will sprout and how many sprouts will develop from those buds,” she says. “It affects stem numbers and vine growth. It also influences tuber development and can have a significant impact on tuber yield and size distribution.”
2/27/2020

Specialty, organic potatoes help expand sales

There’s more to the potato business than reds, whites and russets, marketers in the US say. Specialty varieties and organics are important parts of the product mix, they note. “We need to continue to explore varietals,” said Mike Hart, director of sales and marketing for Fryeburg, Maine-based Green Thumb Farms. “When I look at the produce section as a whole and see the wide range of apple varieties, or a specific orange variety being marketed to kids or parents, I think we can keep pushing the potato category in that direction.”
2/26/2020

No small fry: New MountainKing merchandising program focuses on baby potatoes

As sales of baby Golds, Reds and Medley potatoes continue to climb, MountainKing is embarking on an aggressive program to provide its retail partners with turnkey, display-ready options aimed at driving sales of the smaller, pre-sized variety. “Small potatoes are under-promoted and under-merchandised,” says John Pope, MountainKing vice president of sales and marketing. “We’re working to change that narrative in a big way.”
2/26/2020

Thousands attended International Potato Technology Expo on Prince Edward Island

The 2020 edition of the International Potato Technology Expo welcomed professionals from across North America back to Charlottetown on Canada’s Prince Edward Island this past Friday and Saturday. According to the organizers, the industry event took Charlottetown by storm with an impressive display of equipment and products, alongside an educational conference attracting hundreds of delegates. 3,078 attendees walked the show floor to check out diverse exhibits.
2/26/2020

Australia's famous Big Potato for sale for $920,000

If you’ve always wanted to own Australia’s famous Big Potato, here’s your chance. Owners Heather and Neil Tait, who own the supermarket next door, have put the land housing the potato up for sale. The big spud, located at 80 Hoddle Street in the town of Robertson has a price guide of $920,000. Modelled on the Sebago potato variety, the Big Potato was built in the mid-1970s by potato grower Jim Mauger. The Taits bought the 2000sqm site in 2014 for $450,000, with the aim of using the property to expand their supermarket. The selling agent is Steve Myers of Myers Realty.
2/26/2020

World Potato Congress report: Revised FAO figures show slowdown in the rise of global potato production

The increase in world potato production stalled in 2018 and failed to recover significantly in 2019. World output slipped by 1.5% to 368.247 million tonnes in 2018 figures just released by the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) show. However, that was still the third highest total ever after 2017 and 2014. World Potato Congress (WPC) Inc reports. There was a major adjustment in the area figures in 2018, which knocked onto production figures. The UN FAO estimated that the 158 countries it had figures for (or made calculations for) grew by 17.580 million hectares. Last year the organisation estimated a 2017 area figure of 19.099 million hectares, it has now downgraded the 2017 figure to 17.580 million hectare, a 7.9% reduction.
2/25/2020

Researchers in the Pacific Northwest working together to solve shared potato industry issues

Potato growers are learning it’s good to combine resources. Potato growers in the Pacific Northwest have discovered working together is more productive, especially when it comes to research that could potentially be good for the whole industry, Rick Worthington of AgInfo reports. Matthew Blua is with the Washington Potato Commission and says that was the thinking when it came to funding potato research in particular.
2/25/2020

Russian potato magazine launches multilingual website; experts invited to contribute content

“The development of the processing sector in Russia can change the potato situation: the construction of facilities for the production of potato chips, french fries, starch and potato flakes. Many also expect an increase in potato exports, although this is not easy.” In short, the above are some of the most relevant topics of articles that were published in the magazine Potato System during the last year. But not the only ones. “We also write about diseases and pests of potatoes, the development of breeding and seed production, new technologies, experience and achievements of the best potato farms,” editor of the magazine, Olga Maxaeva says. “We want to turn the Potato System into a platform for the exchange of information and opinions between all potato growers," she says.
2/25/2020

WPC Webinar: Dr. Leah Tsror on Powdery Scab – Integrated disease management for reducing the risk

The World Potato Congress is extremely pleased to be offering its third webinar in 2020 on March 18, featuring Dr Leah Tsror. Dr Tsror is a Research Group Leader in the Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural Research Organization, Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development in Israel. Dr. Tsror has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications and she is on the editorial boards of the journals Potato Research and Phytoparasitica (both published by Springer).
2/24/2020

PepsiCo to buy online snacks retailer in China

PepsiCo Inc. plans to buy online snacks company Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. — known as Be & Cheery — for $705 million from Haoxiangni Health Food Co. as the maker of Doritos and Lay’s potato chips expands in China. The snack and soft-drinks maker had been working on the Be & Cheery acquisition since before the coronavirus outbreak that began in China, and reaching the deal shows a willingness to make a long-term play even against uncertain near term. Pepsi closed one of its six manufacturing facilities in the country earlier this year to help deal with the outbreak.
2/24/2020

Hummingbird Technologies enters Eastern European market; launches Knockdown product in Australia

Hummingbird is very pleased to announce that the company has taken a first step towards the Eastern European market. Sarting with Poland, Hummingbird signed a reseller agreement with ProGea SKY. They will be reselling Hummingbird’s product services for potatoes, sugar beet, and cereals. ProGea will also functioin as a collaborative data collection partner.
2/24/2020

Video: 'Opening the earth – The Potato King'. A story about agricultural biodiversity

A poor potato farmer in the Andes is one of the few guardians responsible for sustaining biodiversity critical to humanity. This video tells the story of Julio Hancco 14,600ft above sea level in the Peruvian Andes. Julio’s humble life contrasts with the global significance of agricultural biodiversity. World famous chefs, international organizations, and experts in the field all played a role in Julio’s rise. This film contrasts the humble life of a poor Peruvian farmer with the global significance of his traditions.
2/23/2020

Only in Canada: Manitobans to dig in for third annual 'Potahto Week'

“Our third annual Potahto Week is officially happening, and we are so ready!,” say the organizers of the event, announcing that Winnipeg’s top restaurants will dish up unique and delicious dishes starring the ‘potahto‘ from February 21 through March 1, 2020. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime-chance to taste potahto dishes exclusive to the event, so get out and chow down (or beware the FOMO), the organizers say.
2/22/2020

The PVY scourge: How new potato virus strains are troubling Maine farmers

The rise in rejected seed potatoes from last season’s crop can be blamed on new strains of an old virus, a Maine Potato Board plant pathologist said Tuesday. The Maine Potato Board announced recently that 60 percent more seed potato lots tested in the 2019-2020 Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s annual post-harvest test were rejected than in 2018-2019. A total of 7.3 percent of all seed potato lots were rejected, Bangor Daily News reports.
2/20/2020

Canada: Another winter of headaches for Manitoba potato growers

Manitoba potato growers are facing the inevitable result of a second extremely challenging digging season — elevated losses in storage. Wet weather in September and early October kept producers out of the fields, while a three-day snowstorm over the Thanksgiving weekend dropped upwards of 75 centimetres of snow in areas of south-central Manitoba, followed by yet more precipitation. Just 60 to 65 per cent of Manitoba’s potatoes had been harvested as of Oct. 9, the Keystone Potato Producers Association said at the time.
2/20/2020

Precision farming: SMART Fertilizer Management launches new SMART software program and unique pricing model

SMART Fertilizer Management, headquartered in the UK and operating globally, is a precision agriculture company that specializes in providing fertilizer management tools to agronomists and farmers alike. The company’s core product, the online SMART fertilizer software program, has been tested and proven by a multitude of users in more than 60 countries around the world. The software can be applied for precision planning and management of fertilizer regimes of an impressive total of 271 different crops, including potatoes.
2/19/2020

EAPR 2020 Conference: 'An inspiring program and diversified range of potato specialists,' says President

The 21st Triennial Conference of the European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) will be hosted in Warsaw, Poland, 6-10 July 2020. The theme of the Conference will be “A new age for potatoes. Prof Jadwiga Śliwka, President of EAPR says “We plan to prepare an inspiring program and bring together a wide and diversified range of potato specialists from all over the world, The Conference aims to cover all potato-related topics from fundamental and applied research, potato breeding, extension services and technology transfer, to technical and economic issues of potato production, storage and processing.
2/19/2020

Potatoes South Australia and industry band together to send wooden bins to fire ravaged Kangaroo Island

In response to the horrific bushfires on Kangaroo Island, Potatoes South Australia Inc has come up with some very practical assistance. Saddened by the devastating impact of the bushfires local farming communities in many parts of Australia, the unprecedented fires that have ravaged more than one third of Kangaroo Island are of particular concern for its members, stakeholders and their families. The Association decided to provide 500 new bins to the producers on the island and contracted CMTP, an Australian company specialising in movability and protection packaging systems.
2/19/2020

Weber Farms: Modern technologies and sound agronomic practices key to successful spud production

Weber Farms is a 3rd generation family farm that was established in 1962 in Quincy, Washington. The farm typically raises around 4500 acres of potatoes that are processed by Lamb Weston. Varieties grown include Clearwater, Altura, Umatilla and Burbank’s. Other crops include sweet corn, apples and cherries. During an interview with Potato News Today, Adam Weber shared more information on the Weber Farms operation.
2/18/2020

Smart Farming in 2020: How IoT sensors are creating a more efficient precision agriculture industry

This is a preview of The Internet of Things (IoT) research report from Business Insider Intelligence. The farming industry will become more important than ever before in the next few decades. The IoT is set to push the future of farming to the next level. Smart agriculture is already becoming more commonplace among farmers, and high tech farming is quickly becoming the standard thanks to agricultural drones and sensors.
2/18/2020

Advice on how to reduce CIPC residue levels with store cleaning

The Potato Industry CIPC Stewardship Group (PICSG) has warned potato growers and buyers against applying sprout suppressant Chlorpropham (CIPC) at 2020 store loading. The popular active, previously used on over 90 per cent of the circa 3.5 million tonnes of potatoes stored in Britain, had its approval for use withdrawn by the European Commission on 8 January. According to AHDB Potatoes, these four simple steps will help reduce CIPC residue levels and keep a clean store overall.
2/17/2020

French fries in China – big opportunities and high hurdles

The market for French fries in China is growing rapidly but barriers to entry exist for foreign providers, as Peter Peverelli of just-food.com explains. The Chinese potato output for the marketing year 2019/20 is estimated at 98m metric tonnes, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Interest in potatoes in China increased considerably, when, in 2015, the Chinese government launched the plan to make the potato the nation’s fifth staple food, after rice, wheat, soy beans and maize. However, it has so far not significantly affected potato production.
2/17/2020

Belgian marketer: 'We must make potatoes sexier and more popular'

Potatoes have been becoming less popular for a while now. That is a shame, thinks Geoffrey Delbaere of the Belgian company, Warnez. “It is such a versatile, sustainable, healthy product. It should be considered a superfood. That is why it is important that we not let it fall by the wayside,” Geoffrey told FreshPlaza. “We must make potatoes sexier and more popular. We [at Warnez] have therefore put a tremendous effort into convenience products in recent years.”
2/17/2020

Potato famine: Ireland remembers how 19th century aid from Ottoman sultan changed fate of thousands

Potatoes have a special place in Irish culture, as for centuries the people of the Emerald Isle have depended on this tuber as a diet staple.A seven-year famine in the 19th century, known as the Great Famine or Potato Famine, killed more than a million people in Ireland, and stories from that time have left deep scars on the national psyche. The worst year for the famine was 1847, as it saw no improvement in crop yields from the first two years of the plague. But it was at that time, the plague’s worst year – “Black ’47” – that unexpected aid arrived from afar.
2/16/2020

SoilBio: New groundbreaking tool for assessing soil health

SoilBio is a new indicator of soil health, based on the most comprehensive UK soil testing investigation to date. It was developed by SoilEssentials, a company specializing in precision farming products and services. SoilBio is said to be “a ground-breaking new test to understand the biodiversity of your soil and measure the quality for long-term, good soil management.”
2/16/2020

Multi-state potato research project in the US analyzes improving soil health

It’s called the kitchen sink treatment among the scientists involved in a four-year, 10-state research project analyzing how to replenish depleted soils in potato rotations. Essentially, the researchers throw “everything but the kitchen sink” into improving soil health in their plots — fertilizing with composted dairy manure and planting a crop as “green manure” between rotation crops. The research project — heading into its second season in major potato production states including Idaho — is evaluating more than a dozen treatments in two- and three-year potato rotations
2/16/2020

Colorado potato grower-brothers cooking up a successful recipe for improved soil health

In some ways, soil health conferences are like recipe swaps — with attendees always on the lookout for a mix of ingredients that will produce better results. One of those recipes presented at the sold-out Western Canada Conference on Soil Health & Grazing last month came from a Colorado potato grower who farms in high-elevation, near-desert conditions and no longer uses chemical inputs. Brendon Rockey calls the set of practices employed by himself and his brother as “biotic” farming. And it’s proved to be a winning formula, he told the 550 people who packed a hotel conference hall.
2/15/2020

PhD project opportunity: 'Optimizing yield and quality by predicting vitality of seed potatoes'

Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre) in the Netherlands has an opening for an interested and qualified PhD candidate to complete aproject focused on the vitality of potato seed. In principle this is a 48-month PhD position. The University offers a temporary contract for 12 months which will be extended with three years if the successful candidate performs well.
2/15/2020

Pathogen attack: Maine Potato Board announces worst Post-Harvest Test since 2012

Maine Potato Board plant pathologist/lab manager Andrew Plant said during a meeting Feb. 12 that the 2019-20 results of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s annual Post-Harvest Test was the worst since 2012-13, Bangor Daily News reports. Plant said that 7.3 percent of all seed potato lots were rejected because of the presence of pathogens within the crop, such as the bacteria Dickeya solani, which is known to cause potatoes to rot in storage, as well as potato virus Y, which can cause rot or affect sprouting.
2/15/2020

Potatoes South Africa and partners sign agreement to address challenges faced by 'new era' farmers

AFGRI Agri Services, Kagiso Trust (through the Tyala Impact Fund) and Potatoes South Africa this week signed a ground-breaking agreement aimed at addressing the major challenges faced by South Africa’s ‘new era’ farmers, according to a press release issued by Potatoes South Africa and partners. Some of these challenges include access to technical support, access to finance and access to markets.
2/14/2020

Fighting Rhizoctonia: BASF UK teams up with Hummingbird Technologies to measure potato crop emergence

BASF launched the first SDHI fungicide for in-furrow treatment for Rhizoctonia solani in potatoes two years ago. Based on Xemium (fluxapyroxad), ALLSTAR showed excellent efficacy in development trials in the UK. BASF has signed an agreement with the state of the art remote sensing technology company, Hummingbird Technologies to measure crop emergence and growth of potato crops in the field and in trial plots.
2/14/2020

Industry veterans join Wisconsin association’s Hall of Fame

Larry Alsum, president and CEO of Alsum Farms & Produce Inc., and Dick Okray, president of Okray Family Farms, are the newest members of the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Association Hall of Fame. Their accomplishments in state and national potato industries were recognized during the association’s annual awards banquet Feb. 5 in Stevens Point, Wis.
2/13/2020

Europatat met with members and potential partners during Fruit Logistica; readies itself for upcoming Congress

Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, attended the Fruit Logistica in Germany last week. The association took the opportunity to hold meetings with the members of its Seed Potato Commission and Packers Commission during the event. The association’s Secretariat also held multiple individual meetings with current and potential partners.
2/13/2020

New book offers science-based information to guide potato research and development

To contribute to some of the latest advances in potato science, two International Potato Center (CIP) scientists edited an extensive compilation of research and expert perspectives in the book: “The potato crop: its agricultural, nutritional and social contribution to humankind,” recently published by the prestigious publishing house Springer Nature. The work of over 60 scientists from 25 countries and 23 international research centers, universities, government agencies and industry, the book brings together an array of useful, research-based information.
2/11/2020

CIP: Developing late blight resistant GMO potato varieties for Africa

The International Potato Center (CIP) is working in East Africa to breed GMO varieties of potatoes that combine three forms of resistance to late blight — the disease that can exact costly tolls on smallholding farmers. CIP states that the objective of the project is: “To develop and deliver bio-engineered potatoes completely resistant to late blight to reduce the costs associated with potato production, the losses caused by the disease, and farmers’ exposure to harmful chemicals.“
2/11/2020

Potato association: 'Ukraine lacks 1.2 mln tonnes of potato storage capacity'

Ukraine today has a total potato storage capacity of 300,000 tonnes. The minimum required capacity to meet domestic needs is to store 1.5 million tonnes, according to the Director of the Ukrainian Association of Potato Producers Oksana Ruzhenkova. “Today, Ukraine has 300,000 tonnes of potato storage facilities. Over the past five years, 350,000 tonnes of storage facilities have lost their usability. The domestic demand is for at least 1.5 million tonnes,” she said during a press conference held at Interfax-Ukraine.
2/11/2020

Grimme's VARITRON 470: Increased comfort, more power

For the harvest season 2020, Grimme’s four-row, self-propelled potato harvesters VARITRON 470 with wheel chassis, and VARITRON 470 Platinum TERRA TRAC (on rubber tracs), will be equipped with various new innovations.
2/11/2020

Upcoming Ontario Potato Conference and Trade Show to focus on emerging grower production issues

Dr Eugenia Banks, organizer of the 2020 Ontario Potato Conference and Trade Show, reminds industry members that the next event will be hosted at the Delta Hotel in Guelph on March 5. Registrations have been coming in steadily to the Potato Board, Dr Banks says. Participants should register by Feb 28 to get the early registration fee of $50. After Feb 28 the fee increases to $80. “The conference is a great opportunity to meet and network with growers, researchers and crop consultants. It is always a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Just what we need before the 2020 season starts,” Dr Banks says.
2/10/2020

Canada's Kroeker Farms to triple production with new world-class facility

The minds behind Kroeker Farms Ltd. are taking steps to position the family-owned potato powerhouse as the leader in their field into the next 20 years and beyond with a new state-of-the-art facility, report Pembina Valley’s Steven Sukkau. The agricultural producer and distributor located in Winkler, Manitoba recently turned the switch on a nearly 70,000 sq. ft. washing/packing plant at their Circle K Drive location.
2/10/2020

British expert blasts approach of Dutch potato growers who are acting ‘insane’

Dutch potato producers have been accused of putting the efficacy of the industry’s limited number of fungicides at risk through “irresponsible” practices. Growers attending the SAC Association of Potato Producers conference at Scone heard independent agronomist Denis Buckley describe the Dutch approach to fungicide application as “insane and irresponsible”, even as the industry “hangs on for dear life” to the crop protection products at its disposal.
2/10/2020

Retiring Univ of Idaho potato scientist recounts evolution of Idaho ag

Jeff Stark’s retirement plans would just have to wait. With only two and a half weeks to his retirement, Stark was busy completing all the necessary paper work for the release of the Galena Russet potato. Stark had been the director of the University of Idaho’s Potato Variety Development Program since 2006 and he estimated that the Galena Russet was the 22nd or 23rd variety released during that time. With his retirement on Jan. 24 this would be the capstone to his career.
2/10/2020

US potato market specialist: '2019 could be a year to remember'

2019 could end up being a year that Idaho potato growers talk about for a long time. “This is going to be a year to remember,” Bruce Huffaker, president of North American Potato Market News, said Dec. 10 during University of Idaho’s “Idaho Ag Outlook Seminar.” Potato production in Idaho and around the U.S. is down this year and that is translating into significantly higher prices for spud growers. “There is going to be stiff competition between processors and the fresh market for who’s going to pay the most for potatoes,” Huffaker said.
2/9/2020

Potato prices in Ireland: Drop in some varieties

Potato prices have fallen back in the past week according to the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) Potato Market Report for February 6. The average price being paid for a 10kg bag of Roosters and a 10kg bag of Kerr’s Pinks has fallen by 30c and 25c respectively in the past two weeks. The average price for boxes of Roosters and Whites remained the same as two weeks ago at €350.
2/9/2020

UK potato businesses urged to ditch CIPC ahead of use-up date

The Potato Industry CIPC Stewardship Group (PICSG) has warned potato growers and buyers against applying sprout suppressant Chlorpropham (CIPC) at 2020 store loading. The popular active, previously used on over 90% of the 3.5 million tonnes of potatoes stored in Britain, had its approval for use withdrawn by the European Commission on January 8. The maximum ‘use-up’ period of nine months was set by the EU, with member states able to set their own date within that timeframe.
2/8/2020