News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

The 13 major [US] potato States held 242 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2008, down 9 percent from a year ago and 7 percent below December 1, 2006. Potatoes in storage accounted for 66 percent of the 2008 fall storage States' production,...

Booming potato production in the developing world could falter as the global economic slowdown reduces investment, trade and potato farmers' access to credit, a new FAO report warned today.The threat comes at a time when potatoes have become an importa...

The Government of Canada is making progress towards regaining market access for Alberta seed potato exports to the United States. The Canada-U.S. Potato Committee has put forward a resolution as the basis for the United States Department of Agriculture...

U.S. potato exports increased at a record pace in the third quarter, up 12 percent by volume from the same period in 2007, according to government trade data.Exports of potatoes and potato products during the July-September period totaled 1.5 billion p...

The state's 2008 potato harvest was the smallest in decades thanks to losses in acreage and crop yields, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This year, Maine potato farmers produced an estimated 1.44 million pounds, 14% below the 2007 harv...

Frito-Lay reported for the 3rd quarter a 9% revenue growth in North America, resulting from double-digit growth at Tostitos, Ruffles and Cheetos and high-single-digit growth in trademark Lay's and Doritos.

Fresh Solution Farms opened its 144,000 square foot facility in Mottville Township today. Backed by a Michigan Economic Development Corp. grant and six grower-owners, the new company produces top-quality, table-stock potatoes grown in Michigan and the ...

Idaho's potato production will decrease about 12 percent this year compared to last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts.State officials said the decrease is due mainly to some farmers switching over to wheat.While Idaho farmers produced m...

Kevin MacIsaac says the easy part is over for Island potato producers - the harvesting.Now comes the tough part. Waiting for signs of rot to appear among the millions of pounds of spuds moved into storage."They're going into the building checking ...

The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has filled two key positions in its potato program. Phillip S. Wharton, a senior research associate at Michigan State University, joined the faculty as potato plant pathologist at the Ab...

"The United Nations International Year of the Potato 2008 is focusing global attention on the key role of the potato and agriculture generally in fighting hunger and poverty."That video is one of the many features of potato2008.org, a multili...

A consumer panel of the Florida Times Union evaluated Ore-Ida's Steam and Mash.This product is one members of the Times-Union Consumer Panel really like.They say Ore-Ida Steam n' Mash is not only easy to prepare but tastes homemade too.The frozen potat...

During the production of par-fried french fries, problems can occur if the potatoes used in the process start becoming opaque. This happens when the starch in potatoes is converted into sugars.

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson says a deal to ship seed potatoes to Cuba has stalled, in part over a langcode barrier. “There is zero chance North Dakota seed potatoes will be going to Cuba this fall — the calendar just got away,” ...

Farmers on Prince Edward Island (PEI) are enjoying much higher potato prices this year, but also estimate about 10 per cent of the crop isn't worth harvesting.Ten-pound bags are going for as much as 23 cents a pound, compared with four to 10 cents at t...

Canadian harvested area for potatoes in 2008/09 could fall to 148,000 hectares, more than 11,000 hectares, or 7% below the year earlier level reflecting a combination of lower planted area and harvest problems due to wet weather in Prince Edward Island...

A farmer well known to Carleton County potato growers was inducted posthumously into the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame.Ronald Ouellette, minister of Agriculture and Aquaculture, announced the 2008 New Brunswick induction of Ronald Ray Piper at a c...

With governments having trouble feeding the growing number of hungry poor and grain prices fluctuating wildly, food scientists are proposing a novel solution for the global food crisis: Let them eat potatoes.Grains like wheat and rice have long been st...