News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

Robert (Bob) Harding is the new general manager of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board. He will take over Feb. 4 from long-time general manager, Ivan Noonan. Kevin MacIsaac, chairman of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board, says Harding has extensiv...

One of the world's largest french fry processors, McCain Foods Ltd. of Canada, may build a $150 million potato processing plant in Washington. Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission in Moses Lake, said a new plant ...

The Idaho Potato Commission's advertising programs garnered a number of new awards in recent weeks, including three for a special potato-peeling demonstration by actress Dawn Wells.Wells, best known for portraying Mary Ann on the popular comedy Gilliga...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is worried that seed potato shipments from Canada to eight states might have been carrying a microscopic, wormlike pest that attacks potato plants. The department has banned additional shipments into the U.S. and plan...

Starting from an organization in Idaho, the nation's big spud producer, the two-year-old, multi-state United Potato Growers Association is sharing production and market information to whip up better profits. At a session at the National Bargaining Conf...

Washington potato farmers harvested more than 5.1 million tons of potatoes in 2007, the state's second-largest spud harvest in history. Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, said the state's potato farmers dug up ...

An ambitious research effort by Cavendish Farms is identifying ways for farmers to reduce nitrate levels finding their way into Island waterwaysAnd while it may sound simplistic, reducing potatoes from the size of baseball star Barry Bonds’ biceps coul...

For harvest 2007, good growing conditions in most of Canada resulted in a yield of 279.0 cwt per acre (31.27 tonnes per hectare), which approached the record yield of 287.1 cwt per acre (32.18 tonnes per hectare) seen in 2006. An excellent fall for h...

Potatopro recomienda ver este vídeo realizado por la Subdivisión de Relaciones Públicas y Promoción, de la FAO [en inglés, Flash, 6.4Mb]. Los temas tratados son: • papel de la papa en el abastecimiento mundial de alimentos • historia de la papa • c...

PotatoPro recommends this video (Flash, 4:15) on the International Year of the Potato 2008, made by FAO's Public Relations and Promotions Branch.   Topics covered in this video include: Role of the potato in the global food supply History of the pota...

On Thanksgiving Day, many Mainers will gather with family and friends around a table piled with a steaming turkey, fresh vegetables and likely a heaping bowl of Maine mashed potatoes. This year, potato growers in the state will be able to give thanks, ...

Solanum tuberosum – the potato - will have its year in 2008. The UN is trying to wean developing countries off rice and persuade them to adopt the potato as a staple food. Potatoes beat rice on most measures. They need less water and less space to prod...

The U.S. border has been closed to seed potatoes from Alberta after the plant pest golden nematode was found on two seed potato fields. USDA and CFIA were in talks as of Tuesday to determine when the border would open again. "We'd like it opened...

Potato growers in North Carolina will have improved access to Canadian markets next year, thanks to a bilateral trade agreement signed recently by the United States and Canada. Growers will have a limited amount of guaranteed access to Canadian market...

Albert Wada is one of America’s potato kings. Farming 12,000 acres of land in Idaho, the state that produces a third of America’s spuds, Mr Wada is one of the biggest potato farmers in the United States. He bought the business in 1972 from his father,...

Potatoes aren't on the list developing nations can order as part of the U.S. food aid program, and Frank Muir, president and chief executive officer of the Idaho Potato Commission, wants to change that.It's something of a Catch-22 situation. Potatoes c...

Production of fall potatoes for 2007 is forecast at 408 million cwt, up 2 percent from last year. Area harvested, at 997,800 acres, is virtually unchanged from the July estimate but 2 percent above last year.The average yield is forecast at 409 cwt pe...

Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner today announced that USDA provided more than $234 million to help market American farm products overseas in the 2007 fiscal year that ended Sept 30.   The allocations were provided under the Market Access Progr...