Aardappelketen uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk

Cheshire potato growers gathered at Aston Grange Farm near Runcorn, at the end of June 2014, to discuss the opportunities for the local crop at Potato Council’s Cheshire Potato event.

An international team of experts led by Newcastle University has shown that organic crops are up to 60% higher in a number of key antioxidants than conventionally-grown ones.

Potato Council’s One Voice campaign is fast gaining momentum, with people from all sectors of industry getting involved and doing whatever they can to help spread positive messages about potatoes.

The West Midlands Potato Day attracted a good crowd of industry visitors on 19 June when potato grower Jonathan Bubb of J.M. Bubb & Sons hosted Potato Council’s technical field day at Lynn South Farm, Newport, Shropshire, where they grow around 400 acres of potatoes.

Vales Produce Growers , the Greenvale potato grower group, has appointed John Rix as their new Chairman.

In the United Kingdom the value of fresh potato category is growing with a 3.8% rise over the last year, while the volume of fresh potatoes sold has dropped by 8.0%. The Potato Council is figuring out what can be done about it.

Researchers at the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen have made a breakthrough in understanding how the microbial spores which cause potato blight are so effective at infecting plants.

Summer is the perfect season for a laidback lunch in the sun and what could be a better accompaniment for a BBQ or al fresco dining than a bowl of tasty, fresh new potatoes. This summer treat yourself to the freshest and best with Freshly harvested Ayrshire and East Lothian Potatoes available from Tesco stores in Scotland.

Leading UK potato supplier, Greenvale is strengthening its marketing team with the appointment of two new members of staff, Tracey Mattock who takes on the role of Marketing Manager, and Kate Wright who is the new Category Insight Manager.

In Northern Ireland, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and CAFRE, Greenmount Campus has issued the first potato blight warning for 2014.

Tong Peal has appointed Ian Evison in a newly created after sales position at its national headquarters.

Modern cooks too lazy to peel a potato - leaving a farmer losing £70 on every tonne of spuds he grows

Herbert Engineering has added significant new features to their Oculus optical sorter, which will enable growers and packers to achieve superior quality product with increased accuracy in the detection of defects tubers.

The newly introduced Variclean from Herbert Engineering has eased the problem of lifting in heavy conditions for many potato growers over the past two winters.

In the United Kingdom, many potato crops are now emerging well - straight into conditions that pose a high risk of blight.

A vision for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) was outlined by the Food and Farming Minister George Eustice and the new AHDB chairman Peter Kendall when they addressed AHDB employees.

Potato Planting in North-Western Europe is well on its way.

This week saw the Potato Council division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of its Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research (SBCSR) facility, near Spalding in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom