News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

Doyle Niemann, a delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, agreed Thursday to withdraw his menu-labeling bill after it failed to draw much support from lawmakers. The Restaurant Association of Maryland, which actively opposed the measure, praised Niem...

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) today expressed support and encouragement for the Canadian and U.S. governments in their efforts to reach an organic equivalency agreement. Progress on the Canadian-U.S. talks was announced yesterday at OTA’s Policy ...

Three words can sum up the increasing popularity of sweet potatoes in the foodservice industry: sweet potato fries.They’re stars on restaurant menus across the country, and some fine dining establishments are pursuing different fresh-cut angles and co...

The United States Potato Board (USPB) grower membership elected new leadership during its Annual Meeting held in Denver, CO, March 10-13. The News release lists the leadership for the coming year by section.

The National Potato Council (NPC) is calling on the Obama Administration and Congress to either reinstate the funding required to continue the pilot program allowing Mexican trucks into a limited area within U.S. border states or to quickly develop an ...

Idaho potato growers have agreed to contract modifications with major processors in an effort to break an impasse with Lamb Weston, a division of ConAgra Foods.Producers voted Tuesday, March 17, to approve changes in the 2009 contracts during a meeting...

Renal specialists have called for clear labeling on products that use potassium chloride as a salt replacer because it could pose a hidden risk for dialysis patients. Potassium chloride has been seen as a potential candidate for salt replacement becaus...

Maine potato growers are thriving thanks to a late blight spraying advice offered by the University of Maine's cooperative extension program.

Leaf samples taken last summer by provincial potato specialists and ag chem firm Bayer CropScience throughout Canada show "widespread"presence of fungi that have mutated to resist the fungicides used most often to control them.The sampling pr...

Competition and market access are the two biggest issues facing the potato industry as it tries to expand exports.“We had been benefiting from having a weak dollar, but that has also made the cost of international programs higher,” said Bart Connors, ...

The potato industry needs innovation to create a long-term rise in demand, U.S. Potato Board President Tim O’Connor said at the group’s annual meeting.“There’s a difference between increasing demand and just getting a temporary sales bump,” O’Connor sa...

The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) today announced a new wave of investment - $350,000 - into research on the role of canola in the prevention and treatment of heart disease and diabetes.The announcement of funding under the Canola Product Research Fun...

Potatoes are for more than just french fries. With the federal government's aid, a nation-wide network of researchers co-ordinated from Fredericton is hoping to develop new uses for spuds - and help Canadian farmers cash in. The federal government is i...

In a case of recent success being no guarantee of future success, potato industry officials are trying to get a message through loud and clear to growers: Don’t plant more spuds than last year.Even keeping acreage right where it is, they say, could be ...

The old pattern was that fresh potato growers made healthy profits every sixth year (1989, 1995, 2001). In most other years, according to my research, growers either lost money or broke even.After the 2001 crop was marketed, prices fell for four consec...

When potato producers plant their seed this spring, they’ll have three new varieties to choose from: Alpine Russet, a very high-yielding, medium- to late-maturing processing potato that has a natural dormancy rivaling Russet Burbank. It can be stored...

Idaho potato farmers are likely to pay more to grow spuds this year than in 2008, despite the recent drop in diesel and nitrogen fertilizer prices."My guess is that the overall cost increase will be somewhere between zero and 5 percent,"said ...

Un nuevo estudio sugiere que una sustancia química potencialmente cancerígena presente en algunos alimentos ricos en carbohidratos no elevaría el riesgo de desarrollar tumores mamarios. La sustancia, llamada acrilamida, ganó notoriedad hace varios año...