Potato News from Idaho

With digging season just around the corner, eastern Idaho potato farmers say they are optimistic they will improve on a middling 2014 harvest this year.

REYCO Systems® and its partner companies Idaho Steel Products and Kiremko today announced the release of the EcoMiser™ Oil Removal System.

The J.R. Simplot Company is pleased that the USDA has deregulated the Russet Burbank variety of the second generation of Innate™ potatoes. Simplot is looking forward to the completion of the EPA registration and FDA consultation before the second generation of Innate™ potatoes can be introduced into the marketplace.

The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) recently updated its website to make it easier than ever for consumers to spend quality time online with Idaho® potatoes.

In a new Ranker poll, the potato tops the competition as the peoples’ #1 favorite vegetable. As such, potatoes hold an important position on foodservice menus as a foundation for profitable snacks, appetizers, side dishes, and entrées.

The new season’s fingerling potato crop looks outstanding for Heyburn, Idaho’s Southwind Farms. The company reports excellent quality, consistent sizing, and good yields.

Late blight has become widespread in Idaho and is called the worst Idaho late blight outbreak since 1998.

A federal judge has signed off on a $25 million settlement in a lawsuit between wholesale grocers and US potato farming associations accused of forming a price-fixing cartel.

McCain Foods USA was recognized by Idaho Power for its commitment to operational excellence through energy efficiency.

Potandon Produce L.L.C., is pleased to announce the addition of another Idaho packing location to their production group. SunRiver of Idaho, Inc. located in Aberdeen, Idaho will pack and ship Idaho russet potatoes starting this month.

The blog FrankenFoodFacts recently published a review of the Innate potato of Simplot Plant Sciences. This blog by Layla Katiraee, who holds a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and is a senior scientist at a biotech company, offers the most insightful review of the Innate Potato PotatoPro has seen so far.

Wada Farms is currently planting next year’s crop. While potatoes from last season are still plentiful in the market and there is no issue with supply, large-sized Russet potatoes will be short in Idaho until new crop comes on.

Lamb Weston now provides restaurant operators in North America with a tool to find out where the potatoes that become their fries originated and then share that information with their customers.

A group of 18 Idaho Potato farmers that say they have been negatively affected by the Pale Cyst Nematode (PCN) program filed an administrative lawsuit against the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Idaho State Department of Agriculture on Tuesday.

The 13 major potato States held 130 million cwt of potatoes in storage April 1, 2015, up 9 percent from April 2014.

Southern Idaho Potato Cooperative growers have agreed to a contract that slightly reduces potato prices but requires processors to accept at least 90 percent of their 2014 acreages with individual farms.

Settlement negotiations are apparently ongoing in the federal potato price-fixing case that wholesalers, retailers and consumers filed six years ago against United Potato Growers of America and others.

Potandon Produce LLC announces the return of their highly successful and popular Mini Potato Display Shipper for the 2015 spring/summer selling season.