News on Research from Washington

The Washington-Oregon Potato Conference 2026 will once again unite growers, processors, suppliers, and stakeholders. Known as a premier industry event, it offers innovation, insights, and valuable networking opportunities for the potato sector.

A new Washington State University-led project will help potato growers safeguard domestic and international markets and maintain high-quality potatoes for consumers around the world.

Minimizing soil disturbance is one of the key tenets promoted to build soil health in agricultural systems. Many farmers across the country have adopted reduced and no-till systems to build soil carbon, a central component to healthy soils.

Jake Blauer is the newly hired post-harvest potato physiologist at Washington State University.

Launching new research in support of Washington potato growers, Washington State University is partnering with industry leaders to study healthier, more sustainable, and productive soils.

WSU plant pathologists Kiwamu Tanaka and Cynthia Gleason are exploring novel approaches to protect the potato crops against nematodes and scab - mobilizing nature itself.

Earlier this month Amazon introduced its new grocery store concept Amazon Go. Amazon Go is a new kind of store with no checkout required.

In September, McDonald's approved two relatively new potato varieties for the production of their french Fries. They only allow seven varieties now, four of which were developed by the Tri-State Program

Earlier this year, Lamb Weston's opened its new Innovation Center in Richland, with co-creation spaces, fully functioning kitchens and a pilot line. The interior was designed by Lamb Westons design agency, Williams Murray Hamm brand agency (WMH), also responsible for Lamb Weston's new global branding

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the partnership between the Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC) and Washington State University (WSU) for potato seed lot trials.

Thanks to investigations by scientists-turned-detectives with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other agencies, potato growers in the western United States and abroad now know the identities of the pathogen-insect duo responsible for outbre...