Summaries of stories appearing in this issue.

May/June 2006

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Hermiston Station Contributes to Potato Variety Changes
One of the more exciting selections working its way through the Tri-State Potato Variety Development Program in recent years is A93157-6LS, according to Dan Hane, research agronomist at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Hermiston, Ore.
Among literally tens of thousands of lines screened through the system each year, the new selection is showing great promise.

“As I reported at the Washington State Potato Conference in Moses Lake earlier this year, A93157-6LS, a dual-use variety, has many good production and processing attributes and has excellent resistance to PVY, early-die and foliar early blight,” Hane explains. “While it is not immune to PVY, it does exhibit significant resistance, much more than anything else out there. In our trials to date, it competes well with the more commonly used processing varieties, including Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank. So, at least in my view, A93157-6LS is an exciting line. It has nice skin appearance. Grown in certain areas, it can be a little round, but in other areas has good length. Overall, it also has good eye appeal for the fresh market.”

The Washington State Potato Commission’s Dr. Andy Jensen
Whether putting together a multi-disciplinary research team to combat tuberworms or helping shape the kinds of potato research funded, Dr. Andy Jensen has proven himself a valuable asset to the Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC).

Hired in May 1999, he is the only Ph.D. serving in a research role on any of the potato commission staffs across the United States.

In the beginning, Jensen was hired to oversee funding for the WSPC’s $600,000-a-year potato research program. However, through his own initiative, his job has since grown to include much more. Today, he closely monitors all of the major production challenges facing Washington potato growers, from what to do about worrisome tuberworm and beet leafhopper populations to aphid and Colorado potato beetle threats as well as best management practices for late blight and white mold.

Volunteer Potato Management for 2006
By Rick Boydston
Volunteer potatoes are a significant weed problem most years in the Columbia Basin potato growing region. Managing volunteer potatoes in crop rotations requires an integration of numerous techniques and practices in order to prevent yield and quality losses and to prevent new tuber production that perpetuates the problem in the rotation. A new WSU extension bulletin (EB1993) is available for purchase that covers the biology and management options for volunteer potatoes. The bulletin can be downloaded for free at http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1993/eb1993.pdf.

Many potato tubers left in the soil after harvest may have been killed by cold soil temperatures throughout the Columbia Basin this past winter. Potatoes normally are killed when they reach temperatures = 28° F. Data from numerous AGWeatherNet weather stations with buried thermocouples indicated that soil temperatures reached a minimum on Dec. 19, 2005, throughout the region (Fig. 1).

Examination of potato fields should be done to accurately determine the extent of winter kill. Tubers killed by cold temperatures are soft and often leak fluids under pressure, although internally appear relatively normal after cut open. Viable tubers that have escaped cold injury are firm. Tubers that are firm on the underside and soft and leaking on the upper side can often be found which mark the depth that killing temperatures reached.



Balancing Potato Markets
The U.S.potato industry held 114 million cwt. of potatoes in storage on April 1. That is the lowest April 1 stocks level since 1992. It is down 11 percent from 2005 inventories. There is no doubt that potato prices are higher than they were a year ago. However, as we go to press, there has not yet been a runaway market of the type that has characterized past years when potato supplies have been extremely tight. Many in the industry are puzzled by the limited market response to one of the tightest supply situations that the potato buyers have faced, in the past 50 years. What is different about this year relative to other recent potato bull markets?

Different Price Response?
Is this year’s price response significantly different from the response in other years when supplies were tight? To judge the market response, we use year-to-year changes in a weighted average of Idaho fob shipping point prices (FWA) for the September-March period. There have been five other years since 1975 when North American potato production has fallen more than 6 percent below year-earlier output. In those five years, production has declined anywhere from 6.5 percent (in 1983) to 13.6 percent (in 2001).

U.S. Potato Board Gives Stewardship Report
Potato-grower board members and other industry leaders convened March 16-18 in Broomfield, Colo., for the annual meeting of the U.S. Potato Board (USPB).

During that meeting Randy Hardy of Oakley, Idaho, was elected chairman of the Board. Ray Meiggs of Camden, N.C., is immediate past chairman.

Timothy O’Connor, president and CEO of the USPB, set the tone for the two-day event during his president’s report to the Board. He reviewed a lengthy list of fiscal-year-to-date, USPB program successes, all targeted at improving the nutritional image of potatoes or increasing demand.

Nutrition Campaign
O’Connor reported a 4 percent increase in people agreeing strongly that “potatoes are nutritious” (Attitude and Usage Report 2006 v. 2005). 177 million consumers have seen the nutrition messages (146 million Oct-Dec Healthy MR. POTATO HEAD™ program launch and parade, 31 million Jan-present).

Two Columbia Basin Potato Growers Elected to Industry Leadership
Two potato growers from the Columbia Basin were elected to the executive committee of the U.S. Potato Board (USPB), the potato industry’s national potato marketing organization. The Northwest caucus named Nelson Cox of Warden, Wash., and Bart Connors of Richland, Wash., to leadership positions on March 18 at the USPB Annual Meeting in Broomfield, Colo.

Serving his second year on the USPB executive committee, Cox is the co-chairman of the International Marketing Committee. He believes in the quality of USPB programs and is proud to be a part of such a dedicated Executive Committee. “We’ve had some tough conversations and heated debates. But it’s all to make sure that our programs are strong for the industry,” he said.

U.S. Potato Board Elects New Leadership
The U.S. Potato Board’s grower membership elected new leadership to its Executive and Administrative Committees during the USPB Annual Meeting held March 17-19 in Denver, Colo.

The following is a list of the leadership for the coming year: Officers: Randy Hard, Oakley, Idaho, chairman; Ray Meiggs, Camden, NC, immediate past chairman.

World Potato Congress Update
A full-day Science Track bringing together 11 top potato researchers from six countries to the Boise Centre on the Grove in Boise, Idaho, is set for Wednesday, Aug. 23. The Science Track, running concurrently with an equally innovative Industry Issues Track, will include presentations on pest and disease control, soil health and storage technology. This program is considered a must-attend event for potato researchers and growers alike.

WA/OR UNITED Potato Coop News
Allen Floyd, Tony Amstad and Dave Long of the WA/OR UNITED Potato Coop recently attended the UNITED of America meeting in Salt Lake City. Several critical issues were discussed including the 2006 UNITED of America acreage buy-down program.

As the acreage buy-down program is based on past versus current project acreage and other factors, it was decided that the WA/OR UNITED Potato Coop would contribute $27,000 to this year’s program, and the Wisconsin, Colorado and Klamath Coops would contribute $450,000, $65,000 and $15,000, respectively.

During the meeting, WA/OR UNITED Potato Coop representatives also expressed concerns that an early season window will be needed in August for Washington and Oregon Coop members to be able to run new crop potatoes without being impeded by other states. Following the UNITED of America meeting, Allen Floyd, Tony Amstad, Dave Long and other potato industry representatives attended a meeting with USDA NASS and AMS in Salt Lake City to urge these agencies to report fresh potatoes separate from potatoes for processing. The meeting went very well, as USDA representatives indicated that they would to chage how they do their reports.

The Importance of Statistical Accuracy and PGW Membership
Recently I attended a meeting with several of the USDA agencies that record and report statistical data related to potato production and marketing. The agencies present were the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA). On the grower’s side were representatives from all of the major potato producing regions of the United States. The reason for the meeting was to discuss what each side could be doing better to improve the accuracy and the timeliness of the reports that are published by the USDA.

The biggest impression that I came away from the meeting with was the importance of these reports throughout the growing season. Millions of dollars are at stake in the decisions made by both buyers and sellers of potatoes.

Throughout this meeting, no matter which report was being discussed, the bottom line always came back to the accuracy of the report—that it is only as good as the information that the growers or shippers provide. Therefore, I cannot stress enough the importance of everybody’s cooperation with the statisticians when they contact you throughout the coming year for the various data gathering that must be done to compile these reports. A lack of response, or responding with less than 100 percent accuracy, can cost growers money, so please do your part.

Researchers Look at Reduced Tillage for Potato Production
Is it possible to grow a high quality crop of potatoes while reducing tillage and the number of trips across the field?
Yes, according to recent research by Harold Collins, Rick Boydston, Ashok Alva, Fran Pierce and Phil Hamm in a published study, “Reduced Tillage in a Three-year Potato Rotation.”

The researchers have since shifted their focus from small plot research to one incorporating commercial-sized equipment to better represent industry practices.

“In the early stages of this long-term project, we have found minor differences in soil properties, pathogens, weeds and yields between the conventional tilled and reduced tillage treatments,” Collins, Boydston, Alva, Pierce and Hamm wrote.
Collins, Boydston and Alva are with the USDA-ARS Vegetable and Forage Crops Research Unit, Prosser, Wash.; Pierce is the director of the Center for Precision Agricultural Systems, Washington State University, Prosser; and Hamm is superintendent of Oregon State University’s Hermiston Experiment Station in Hermiston, Ore.