Potato News Today

Latest North American News

Canada’s Québec Parmentier acquires large-scale seed potato producer

Canadian potato company Québec Parmentier announced the acquisition of Ferme G. G. & A. Montminy, a renowned and large-scale seed potato producer located in the Péribonka region of Quebec. Being located in a ‘Protected Cultivation Zone’ gives it an undeniable advantage in terms of the quality of the seed potatoes produced. Pierre Chouinard, Chief Executive Officer of Québec Parmentier says the announcement marks a turning point in the history of Québec Parmentier.

Latest European News

Retail giant Kaufland to sell low-carb potatoes

German retail giant Kaufland has rolled out low-carbohydrate potatoes, said to have 30% less carbohydrates, under its ‘Linella’ label. The new potato SKU is available across Germany at all Kaufland outlets, the retailer added. The innovative potato was created in collaboration with Kaufland’s long-term partner, Europlant Plant Breeding.

Smart Farming

Meade farm ends 2021 on high note at awards

2021 ended on a high for Irish grower, packer and distributor Meade Farm Group. As
Caroline Allen reports for Agriland, the Meade family’s passion for potatoes in all shapes and forms was evident at the recent Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards. They scooped three gold awards for their fresh skinny chips, fresh chunky chips and potato starch in the foodservice category, as well as a silver gong for their white potatoes.

Equipment and Technology

‘Bud’ the robot fries weeds with lasers instead of chemicals

Like “The Terminator” for weeds, the Carbon Robotics machine, dubbed “Bud,” rolls through farm fields using artificial intelligence to discern weeds from crops and using a high-power laser to kill the weeds. This lets farmers cultivate crops with less herbicide and reduced labor, improving crop yields and saving money.

Latest news stories from around the World

Canada’s Québec Parmentier acquires large-scale seed potato producer

January 18, 2022

Syngenta announces new solution to preserve quality of potatoes in storage

Potato growers in the U.S. facing post-harvest diseases now have a new option for protection during storage. Archive fungicide from Syngenta preserves potato quality in post-harvest. “Archive is a powerful pre-mix fungicide that will help growers combat the major storage pathogens that threaten their crop,” says Heather Ambuehl, post-harvest lead at Syngenta. “This post-harvest tool is one growers can incorporate into their decay management strategy.”

January 18, 2022

Prince Edward Island processing potatoes heading to Lamb Weston plant in Alberta

A Prince Edward Island company has brokered a deal to send as many as 700 tractor trailer loads of surplus P.E.I processing potatoes to Lamb Weston’s french fry plant in Canada’s Alberta province. As Nancy Russell reports for CBC News, the deal was put together by Terry Curley of Monaghan Farms, who is part of a working group set up to deal with the potato wart crisis in Prince Edward Island.

January 18, 2022

AUSVEG working with potato growers to monitor Ballarat storm aftermath

AUSVEG, and its State Member AUSVEG VIC, are monitoring the situation on-the-ground in Ballarat following reports that recent storms and wet weather have impacted much of the region’s potato crop. The region is an important supplier of potatoes, particularly for the processing industry. AUSVEG is reaching out to local growers to better understand the extent of the damage.

January 17, 2022

Puerto Rico supermarket shelves empty as Prince Edward Island potato supply dries up

Potato importers in Puerto Rico say they are not able to fill their orders to supermarkets on the Caribbean island because they can’t get enough supply to fill the void created by the export ban on Prince Edward Island potatoes. “We are in a bad, bad situation right now,” said Mark Antunez, president of Antunez & Son Produce, who has been importing from P.E.I. since 1988.

January 17, 2022

Retail giant Kaufland to sell low-carb potatoes

January 17, 2022

Biological crop control company Koppert reveals new branding inspired by nature

Koppert launched its new branding on Thursday. After nearly 30 years, the biological crop control company has changed its logo and visual identity. The new branding matches Koppert’s ambition and reflects the company’s connection to nature. With offices in thirty countries, the company’s biological solutions are being used in 100 countries all over the world.

January 17, 2022

EarthRenew: Regenerative products boost plant hormones, production of ‘healthier potatoes’

EarthRenew Inc, a Canadian fertilizer company supporting regenerative agriculture practices, today published positive results from its previously announced field trial collaboration between the company’s subsidiary, Replenish Nutrients, Lethbridge College, and Biome Makers. The company says its product Rebuilder showed in trials to boost the production of healthier potatoes free from common defects.

January 15, 2022

Dogs sniff out significant potato diseases in fields and storages

Andrea Parish’s dogs are saving potato farmers throughout the country big money by quickly sniffing out a couple of significant crop diseases. Her canine’s specialize in detecting potato virus Y and bacterial ring rot. Her lovable Labradors can positively identify infected spuds just 48 hours after inoculation. Parish, owner and founder of the company Nose Knows Scouting, has been working with her dogs in potato storages and fields from Washington to Maine.

January 15, 2022

As McDonald’s Japan restricts French fry sales, rival boosts fry sizes by 25 percent

In December, McDonald’s Japan announced that it would be suspending sales of all French fry orders except smalls due to a potato shortage. Now, rival Japanese fast food chain Freshness Burger announced it will be increasing the amount of French fires in its regular and large-size orders, as well as its combo meals, by 25 percent and without increasing the price.

January 15, 2022

P.E.I. Potato Board says Ottawa should reduce restrictions on domestic potato trade

The P.E.I. Potato Board says the federal government should reduce the scope of a ministerial order restricting the movement of Island potatoes across Canada while a ban on exports of such potatoes to the U.S. remains in place. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) met with its American counterpart, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, as part of a regular technical discussion on how to find a resolution to the ban.

January 14, 2022

NASA and NOAA: ‘Warmer now than in at least the past 2,000 years, probably longer’

The numbers are in: Earth is still running a fever. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their annual assessment of global temperatures and found that 2021 was the sixth warmest year on record. “It’s certainly warmer now than at any time in at least the past 2,000 years and probably much longer,” said Russell S. Vose, the climate analysis chief of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

January 13, 2022

Korea’s E Green Global is using cell ag to change the way the world grows potatoes

When we hear the term ‘cellular agriculture’ these days, our minds typically wander to the production of cultivated meat and dairy. But similar techniques also have a part to play in growing fruits, vegetables, and other crops, writes Jack Ellis in an article published by AgFunder Network news. Ellis writes that South Korea’s E Green Global is starting out by creating potato seedlings from tissue cultures in the lab, and hopes to replicate the method with other crops in the near future.

January 13, 2022

Hash browns disappear from McDonald’s Japan branches, country’s potato shortage continues

Supply line troubles between Japan and North America rob fans of breakfast bliss. As Casey Baseel reports for SoraNews24, it was with great sadness that McDonald’s Japan suspended sales of medium and large-size orders of French fries in mid-December. Now comes more sad news, as McDonald’s is also suspending sales of hash browns in Japan.

January 12, 2022

HZPC: The importance of healthy soil

HZPC says in a recent news article that the company’s growers know it better than anyone: a healthy soil is crucial for good potato growing. But a healthy soil offers more. It contributes to all the main pillars of HZPC in the field of sustainability. The talk HZPC had with grower Pieter Klaas Westerhuis from Usquert in Groningen, the Netherlands confirms this: “We don’t want to leave any problems behind for the next generation to solve”.

January 12, 2022

Adrian Cunnington of Potato Storage Insight to work with Juno and Biox-M

Juno (Plant Protection) Ltd is delighted to announce that Adrian Cunnington, widely respected former head of the Sutton Bridge potato storage research facility, has agreed to work with Juno to support growers, store-keepers, agronomists and foggers in delivering optimum efficacy from the use of Biox-M. Biox-M is 100% spearmint oil, approved for use as a potato sprout suppressant.

January 12, 2022

Technico Agri Sciences certified as a ‘Great Place to Work’

echnico Agri Sciences Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC Limited, is now a Great Place to Work-Certified company by the Great Place to Work Institute. The Certification is recognized around the world by employees and employers alike and is considered the ‘Gold Standard’ in identifying and recognizing Great Workplace Cultures.

January 12, 2022

P.E.I. potato farmers seek end to trade suspension, but U.S. officials want more data

Farmers on Prince Edward Island say there’s no justification for a suspension of exports of Island potatoes to the United States and it needs to be lifted now, but Canadian officials say the U.S. is demanding more information. “It’s our own government that has the suspension in place. We need that suspension lifted,” P.E.I. Potato Board general manager Greg Donald said in an interview Tuesday. “There’s no science that says our fresh potatoes cannot go.”

January 12, 2022

Canada’s ‘Manitoba Potato Production Days’ event cancelled

Manitoba Potato Production Days (MPPD) has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a Jan. 7 announcement says. It had been scheduled to happen Jan. 26 and 27 in Brandon, Manitoba. The Manitoba government announced on Jan. 7 it would be extending current public health orders, which are in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, until Feb. 1. Current public health orders reduce indoor gathering limits to 50 per cent capacity or 250 people, whichever is lower.

January 11, 2022

Canada, U.S. officials to meet in bid to resolve potato ban dispute

Canadian and U.S. officials are scheduled to meet this week to see if progress can be made to end a dispute that resulted in Canada suspending all shipments of potatoes from Prince Edward Island to the United States. Officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will meet virtually with their American counterparts on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing trade dispute between Canada and the United States involving potatoes from Prince Edward Island.

January 11, 2022

‘Once in a generation disaster’: Australian potato farmer tells of devastating rain and hail damage

There are fears of a potato shortage after wild weather lashed the Ballarat region in Australia last week, causing millions of dollars of damage to crops. Clarkes Hill potato farmer of 40 years, Rodney Guthrie, says his area endured hail and 150mm of rain. 3aw.com.au spoke to Mr Guthrie.

January 10, 2022

Opinion: China’s ‘new money’ is the potato, thanks to COVID

“The Digital Yuan is no longer relevant. A new currency has been adopted by the People’s Republic of China. The Potato is its name,” writes Jeff Salle in an opinion piece published by CengNews. Salle writes that according to Charles Burton, a China watcher at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, university students in Xian prefer to pay for tutoring with potatoes rather than cash. Do you need cotton swabs in that 13-million-strong city in central China? The currency is potatoes.

January 10, 2022