News on The Potato Supply Chain from Oregon

Eastern Oregon potato growers face rising costs as U.S. tariffs hit fertilizer, equipment, and exports. Industry leaders warn of lost markets to China and long-term risks if tariffs persist.

On Wednesday last week, the Oregon Senate adopted a resolution declaring an official state vegetable and yes, you guessed it, it is the Potato!

The mood was upbeat and confident at the Malin Potato Cooperative in February of 2015. The Merrill, Oregon, agricultural co-op was preparing to open a brand-new, $7 million state-of-the-art potato packing plant.

On May 1, Gary Roth started as the new Executive Director of the Oregon Potato Commission (OPC).

ARS Researchers studied potato tubers from the Klamath Basin in Oregon infected with the causal bacteria of zebra chip disease. They confirmed the presence of the pathogen but did not identify the sample as one of the six known varieties (haplotypes).

Farmers, fish advocates, tribes and government officials are headed to federal court in California on Wednesday (today) to argue who will get water — and when — in the Klamath Basin.

The spring weather in Oregon may not have been ideal, but potato farmer Tony Amstad, owner of Amstad Farms, is still pleasantly surprised with the size and quality of his early season potatoes.

As fall potato harvest wraps up around the Columbia Basin, farmers are expecting above-average yield and quality thanks to an exceptional growing season.

Potato breeders at Oregon State University are working to identify the gene that makes certain potatoes resistant to nematodes, which could then be used to create new varieties.

Foreign countries are showing increasing interest in potato varieties developed in the Pacific Northwest and managed by the Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI).

Oregon Governor Kate Brown talked with farmers outside the state Capitol Monday, stressing the the importance of potato crops for Oregon.

Heinz Frozen Foods, manufacturer of the Ore-Ida retail brand is changing the procurement process for the potatoes for its Ontario, OR potato processing plant. Heinz will now contract with the Oregon Potato Company, Pasco, Washington.

During the week of Aug. 23, the National Potato Council (NPC) led a delegation of five U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees in a crop tour of the Columbia Basin growing area in Oregon.

Agricultural researchers of the Oregon State University will begin testing two small, remote-controlled aircraft this month, flying them over potato fields in the Hermiston area in trials that may help farmers use water, fertilizer and pesticides more ...

Oregon State University once again has a plant breeder leading its potato development efforts after filling a position that was vacant for nearly two years: Sagar Sathuvalli.

The last two solar power generating stations of Gold Dust and Walker Brothers' Solar Initiative have been activated by Pacific Power and Light. The two solar stations are located at potato storage cellars outside of Merrill.

Two new potato varieties just released by Oregon State University are likely to catch the eye of Oregon's potato processing industry and the gourmet market.

The Oregon Potato Commission has committed an extra $60,000 this year in funding for the potato variety development program at Oregon State University, said Bill Brewer, the commission’s executive director.Among those new varieties Brewer is most excit...