Less than two per cent, or $24 million, of payouts from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) has been given to specialty crop producers, a June 16 news release from the National Potato Council (NPC) says. The USDA has paid out more than $1.4 billion overall for the program, with $676 million going to livestock producers, $368 million to non-specialty crop growers and $337 million to…
Potato producers across the United States will be eligible for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) program, announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday. The new US$19 billion relief program will take several actions to assist farmers, ranchers, and consumers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA release says. The two major parts of the program include US$16 billion in direct support for losses based on market conditions, the…
Japan has agreed to further reduce exports on United States potato products as of April 1, a news release from the National Potato Council (NPC) says. This comes only four months after the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement came into affect on Jan. 1. The tariff on U.S. frozen fries will fall to 2.1 per cent, and the tariff on U.S. dehydrated potato flakes will drop to 10 per cent. Further reductions will happen…
An international consortium has released a map which tracks the European spatial distribution of Phytophthora infestans in 2019, the plant pathogen responsible for potato late blight. The map uses data which visualizes the distribution and diversity of dominant clones in the 2019 crop. Plant pathologists from the EuroBlight consortium, which includes the James Hutton Institute, Aarhus University, Wageningen University and INRA, along with industry and research partners, compiled the map as part of their…
Farmers in North Dakota, including potato growers, will be able to receive emergency loans for last year’s growing season after United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue designated 16 North Dakota counties as primary natural disaster areas. Forty-seven of North Dakota’s 53 counties had previously been approved for a secretarial disaster designation. The remaining six counties now have this designation — making all of North Dakota eligible. Producers will be able to…
As part of the phase one trade deal between the United States and China, the Asian nation will accept imports of U.S. fresh chipping potatoes from the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the National Potato Council says in a release. On Feb. 25, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced China has taken numerous actions to begin implementing its agriculture-related commitments from the trade deal,…
UNITED KINGDOM A genetically modified potato with improved tuber quality and resistance to the devastating disease late blight has progressed successfully through the latest stage of trials. The field trials follow successful lab experiments to modify Maris Piper potatoes with late blight resistance genes from wild relatives of potato called Solanum americanum and Solanum venturii. To improve tuber quality, the modified Maris Piper lines also have genes switched off — or silenced…
The World Potato Congress Inc. (WPC) has announced its second webinar in its 2020 series featuring Hein Kruyt, Solynta’s CEO, on February 20, 2020. The webinar is titled, “What’s all this talk about hybrid breeding and hybrid true potato seeds (HTPS) revolutionizing the potato industry?” Hein Kruyt, CEO of Solynta and the frontrunner in Hybrid True Potato Seeds (HTPS), will give an introduction into HTPS as well as the exciting opportunity to…
Volm Companies, Inc., an industry leader in providing the highest quality packaging and equipment solutions to the fresh produce industry, has announced that its partner, Manter International B.V. of Emmen, Netherlands, has acquired shares of Solidtec BV. Solidtec, of Dronten, Netherlands, has been manufacturing gantry style palletizing systems for fresh produce and other markets since 1999. The merger allows for a close collaboration between the companies, resulting in a more cohesive process…
At the National Potato Council’s (NPC) 2020 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Britt Raybould of Rexburg, Idaho, was elected to serve as NPC’s 2020 President and to lead the council’s Executive Committee. Raybould serves as chief financial officer of Raybould Brothers Farm. She previously served the NPC Board as First Vice-President and Vice-President of the Legislative and Government Affairs Committee. She is the third generation of the Raybould family to serve as…