News on The Potato Supply Chain from Minnesota

Cellectis Plant Sciences, Inc. has announced today that the Plant Biotechnology Journal has accepted the publication of its peer-reviewed manuscript demonstrating the phenotypic validation of potato lines developed by inactivating a single endogenous gene responsible for sugar accumulation when stored at cold temperatures.

Of the more than 100 diseases of potato, bacterial ring rot is one of the few zero-tolerance pests. If just one seed potato on a farm is found to have this disease, no seed on that farm can be certified.

Alarmed by rapid deforestation in an ecologically sensitive swath of central Minnesota, state regulators have ordered a broad environmental review that will temporarily halt conversion of the region’s jackpine stands to potato fields.

The Northern Plains Potato Growers Association will honor Ron Norman with its Meritorious Service Award at their banquet on February 17th.

Sandi Aarestad who operates Valley Tissue Culture near Halstad, Minnesota received the Meritorious Service Award from the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association

A large potato warehouse in western Minnesota operated by the nation’s largest potato producer RD Offutt burned down.