News on Potato Cultivation from Northern America

As the first day of fall arrives, the potato crop in Canada is in varying stages of growth and/or harvest. The United Potato Growers of Canada provide an update.

Many potato fields across Prince Edward Island are not in the condition they usually are at this time of year due to the hot and dry conditions for much of July and August.

A WSU study has estimated the 2020 economic losses from potato production and processing in Washington. The demand shocks of COVID-19 resulted in a hit of roughly $1 billion dollars in gross state product.

The potato harvest is now underway in the Red River Valley. Yields are all over the board ranging from poor to excellent. Most of the fields with poor yields were damaged by heavy rain that fell on, and around June 30th.

Just days before his Center, CO, operation kicked off its 2020 San Luis Valley potato season, Skyline Potato Co. General Manager Les Alderete said he was optimistic about the overall market situation and the coming year.

MountainKing Potatoes has added Cindy Adkins, a former owner and operator of the nation's largest certified organic packer of fingerling potatoes, to its team of sales representatives, the company says in a press release recently issued.

Farmers all across Idaho will be in their fields from now through most of October collecting the state's signature crop.

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.

Right now, parts of Eastern Canada are facing moderate to severe drought conditions. Rainfall is critical for this crop. In Western Canada, the crop is running behind schedule as processors push to get new crop harvest underway. Prairie yields currently look average at best.

Potato farmers in Atlantic Canada are worried about their supply with COVID-19 and extreme weather conditions causing complications.

Americans have rapidly changed the ways they buy, cook and eat food in just four months, leaving everyone from farmers to restaurants unable to match their pivot.

This year, this is a season when dreams die. Due to an epic potato glut that imploded his market, he has decided to do what was once unthinkable — destroy part of his crop rather than sink more dollars into cultivation.

'This will help to ensure no product is lost so that farmers are in a good position for the 2020 growing season'

Total acres of Idaho’s iconic potato crop could decrease significantly this year as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Although there was a rush on potatoes at grocery stores early on.

Black Gold Farms, Grand Forks, N.D., will start the harvest of red potatoes in Texas soon. The company will be harvesting the potatoes for about a month, starting in early May in Pearsall, Texas, according to a news release.

Yara North America, a market leader in crop nutrition, has joined the Potato Sustainability Alliance. As a member, Yara will work with processors, packers, buyers, grower organizations, conservation groups, academia, and other stakeholders.

With coronavirus severely affecting the potato supply chain, a farm in Idaho is giving away about 2 million potatoes so they don't go to waste. First come, first served.

Volunteer potatoes are difficult to control. Currently, there are no herbicides available that will completely control volunteer potatoes and significantly reduce the number of daughter tubers produced per plant.