This article appears in the January 2017 issue of Potato Grower.
Success of the potato industry is largely dependent on quality seed, which comes from all over the United States. From coast to coast, following are reports from several key states’ seed potato certification programs.
Colorado
Andrew Houser, Manager, Colorado Potato Certification Service
Colorado certified seed potato acreage entered in 2016 totaled 11,399 acres, down 268 acres from 2015. Total potato acreage in the San Luis Valley, including both the commercial and seed crops, was 50,902 acres, down 1,033 acres from 2015. The top five certified seed varieties in Colorado this year were Russet Norkotah selections, Canela Russet, Centennial Russet, Teton Russet and Rio Grande Russet.
The official 2016 certified seed directory is posted online at www.potatoes.colostate.edu. This lists second-inspection results of all seed lots passing summer inspections and eligible for sale. An interactive version of the same certified seed directory is part of the Colorado Certified Potato Growers’ Association website.
The 2016 growing season in the San Luis Valley of Colorado progressed smoothly. Soil moisture was fair after some early spring showers. Slightly cooler weather right after planting delayed emergence, but warm temperatures in June made up for it. Hailstorms were limited, but severely affected yields of fields they hit. Colorado had a very productive harvest season. Overall yields and sizing hovered around average. Certified seed growers began killing vines in late July and early August, sacrificing yields but limiting potential spread of virus by aphids. Tubers graded well, depending upon the variety.
Certified seed growers have submitted seed lot samples for the post-harvest test on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Post-harvest test readings should be available for the 2016 Colorado seed crop in early January. These results will be posted on our website.
The Colorado Seed Act requires all seed lots imported into Colorado undergo a post-harvest test or winter grow-out. Seed growers intending shipment into Colorado should contact their respective certifying agencies for submitting samples for post-harvest testing. The San Luis Valley is a zero-tolerance late blight area, so all seed needs to be tested for late blight prior to shipment. For specific requirements for this test, read the late blight quarantine document at www.potatoes.colostate.edu.
Idaho
Alan Westra
Southeast Area Manager, Idaho Crop Improvement Association
At the conclusion of the second round of field inspections, a total of 32,554 Idaho seed potato acres were accepted for certification in 2016, an increase of 1.7 percent from 2015. Excluding proprietary genetics, this acreage represents a total of 193 varieties, selections and advanced clones.
The top varieties for 2016 are:
- Russet Burbank 40 percent of total acreage
- Russet Norkotah (all strains) 17 percent
- Ranger Russet 12 percent
- Alturas 4 percent
The acreages of each of these varieties is essentially unchanged from last year. A complete listing of this year’s seed potato crop is available in the 2016 Idaho Certified Seed Potato Directory, posted at www.idahocrop.com.
Planting this year began slightly earlier than normal for many seed growers, with only minor delays due to weather. The earlier planting of the crop somewhat offset the effects of an atypically hot and dry growing season. Seed health appears to be improved in the 2016 crop, with fewer incidences of PVY and zero BRR detections during field inspections.
At the time of writing, some growers have reported excellent yields, while others are indicating only average yields. To date, quality going into storage is reported as being good to excellent. Despite the slight increase in acreage, the summer heat is expected to impact grade-out on some seed lots; as a result, seed availability is predicted to be essentially unchanged from 2015.
Of major concern for the seed industry are reports of negative impact on seed quality due to Dickeya and/or Pectobacterium. Idaho seed standards already include testing requirements for introductory materials and tolerances for blackleg during field inspections, and these requirements generally meet or exceed those of other certification programs.
Despite increased vigilance on the part of ICIA inspectors, some blackleg was observed in the 2016 crop, though relatively little. Less than 2 percent of lots exhibited any measurable amount of blackleg, and incidence in the affected seed lots tended to be very low, with most exhibiting only a trace of the disease. Despite the low incidence of blackleg in this season’s crop, ICIA is actively monitoring this situation in order to provide continued assurance of the quality of Idaho certified seed potatoes.
Maine
Eric Hitchcock
Certified Seed Program Manager, Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry
The 2016 season was a good growing year for seed in Maine. Early summer was a little damp and cool, but when the weather broke it remained nearly perfect for the rest of the season in northern Maine’s Aroostook County. Southern and central Maine were much drier and experienced conditions similar to the rest of New England.
In response to the issues with Dickeya (a bacterial disease with blackleg symptoms), changes were made to the certification rules this year, including tolerances for blackleg and decreasing the number of field years that could be re-certified.
The 2016 crop was large in volume and appears high in quality. Maine growers seemed to get rain as needed all summer and had good temperatures for growing seed potatoes.
As of September 20, 2016, the certification program had 10,163 acres entered from 106 farms for 2016 certification. The top five varieties entered for 2016 in Maine are:
- Atlantic 932 acres
- Dark Red Norland 645 acres
- Snowden 623 acres
- Lamoka 572 acres
- Superior (NY Strain) 481 acres
Inspectors are now busy receiving, sorting and preparing tuber samples in preparation for planting in Florida for the post-harvest grow-out as well laboratory PVY testing for Field Year 1, 2 and Latent varieties. This year marks a transition in post-harvest testing for the Department with hopes to fully implement laboratory post-harvest testing for PVY in the next few years.
Minnesota
Jeff Miller
Certified Seed Potato Specialist, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
In the 2016 growing season, 6,623 acres of seed potatoes were entered for certification by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, compared to 6,477 acres in 2015, an increase of 2.3 percent. Of these, 5,890 acres passed the summer certification.
The number of Minnesota seed growers increased as well, from 28 farms to 32. Three of the new operations are young farmers, either branching out from the family business or just dipping their toes in seed potato growing. The fourth grower is a unique operation located in the heart of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, a micro-tuber propagation laboratory.
Minnesota seed growers experienced a variety of challenges again this year; however, rain had the most dramatic effect. Spring planting got off to a mild and dry start, but in mid-June the rain began. The excess precipitation affected the northern reaches of the state, from East Grand Forks north to the Canadian border, as well as the area close to the Iowa border. Those areas that were fortunate enough to receive normal precipitation this year had very good crops, yields and quality.
Others were not so fortunate, and some had flooded fields. The area most impacted, roughly 20 miles north of East Grand Forks, was hit with excessive rain all year and saw standing water for the greater part of the summer and fall. Rainfall often exceeded 4 to 5 inches in a single storm, and occasionally reached 8 and 9 inches in a single event. Some areas in the northern Red River Valley received over 35 inches of rain throughout the growing season.
Harvest was a challenge in the areas with excessive moisture. Challenges included equipment getting stuck, potatoes being extremely wet, delayed harvest, and soft rot issues in the fields. Late blight was found in both Manitoba and North Dakota, so it was not surprising to see it in a wet field in Minnesota. Early reports indicated that growers had already disposed of some potatoes due to late blight issues. Where the excess moisture wasn’t an issue, harvest proceeded as normal with better than expected yields and quality. With as much rain as had fallen across the growing regions, Minnesota lost only eight acres of seed potatoes to drown-out.
At the end of October, the post-harvest winter test samples were collected, organized, palletized and treated with bromoethane in East Grand Forks. They were then shipped on Oct. 31 to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they were planted from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3. The field readings in Hawaii are set to begin Jan. 3 and will run through Jan. 21. Results from these tests will be available in early February.
Montana
Nina Zidack
Program Director, Montana Seed Potato Certification
Summer 2016 provided very favorable growing conditions in all areas of Montana. The northern growing area, encompassing south of Flathead Lake and north to Kalispell, received significant relief from the drought growers there experienced in 2015. Wet weather extended into the fall and caused some harvest delays, but with very mild temperatures the crop was brought in without frost damage.
The Gallatin, Toston/Townsend and Beaverhead areas were very dry, but overall temperatures were moderate. With an adequate irrigation supply, potato crops in that area flourished. All areas reported strong yields with excellent seed health and a nice size profile.
Montana seed potato acreage inched 1.5 percent higher to 10,398 acres, compared to 10,242 acres in 2014. Russet Burbank is holding as the dominant variety with 4,372 acres, followed by Umatilla at 1,680 acres, a 6.8 percent increase over last year’s 1,572. Ranger Russet saw a 7.6 percent decrease, falling from 1,236 acres in 2015 to 1,142 acres in 2016. Alturas increased 6.8 percent to 732 acres. Standard Norkotah, at 145 acres, continues to decrease rapidly, with 40 percent fewer acres than 2015; this follows a 38 percent drop from 2014 to 2015. Norkotah Texas lines have decreased 10 percent to 587 acres compared to 650 acres in 2015. Northwest lines have also declined from 82 to 50 acres. For three years in a row, Clearwater Russet production has steadily increased and jumped 33 percent in 2016 to 353 acres. Teton is on a sharp rise from 55 acres in 2015 to 91 acres in 2016.
A total of 63 varieties were registered for certification.
North Dakota
Kent Sather
Director of Potato Programs, North Dakota State Seed Department
“This is not a normal season!” was the most quoted phrase of potato growers in northeastern North Dakota last summer. After a mild winter, planting started early on April 12. Soil moisture appeared sufficient for the beginning of planting. Major rain events in May and June, however, slowed the process, causing fields to be planted as late as July 2.
Twenty-nine certified seed potato growers submitted acreage applications totaling 15,584 acres, down from 19,195 acres (19 percent) in 2015. The top five varieties were:
- Norland strains 3,666 acres
- Umatilla Russet 2,192 acres
- Dakota Pearl 1,181 acres
- Bannock Russet 1,134 acres
- Russet Burbank 1,057 acres
After the last of the seed was brought in, the rains kept coming. Potato-growing areas in north-central and northeastern North Dakota were especially affected. Growers watched planted acreage dissolve away because of drown-out areas, reducing seed acreage by 900 acres (down 7 percent). A July 19 hail event—“The worst I’ve ever seen,” said one grower—added insult to injury for several growers. The threat of late blight spreading from Manitoba forced North Dakota growers to pay close attention to protective fungicides, often flown on since ground rigs could not get into muddy fields. No late blight was confirmed in certified seed fields.
North Dakota surveyed for Dickeya dianthicola. Symptomatic blackleg stems were subjected to lab testing against Dickeya. To date, no positives have been confirmed. Leaf samples were taken from required seed lots for serological potato virus testing, including PVY and PVX. Approximately 800 acres were rejected, primarily due to mosaic (PVY).
Early field generation North Dakota seed lots inspected were free from viruses and were not affected by persistently high levels of soil moisture.
Growers embarked on a long harvest, struggling to muck out the potato crop into November. Tuber quality looked good, though some acreage was abandoned when hard frosts came.
North Dakota State Seed Department tissue culture and greenhouse staff harvested good mini-tuber crops in June and October, which will supply North Dakota seed growers with the first field-year crop of 2017.
North Dakota seed directories can be obtained by calling the North Dakota State Seed Department at (701) 231-5000 or by emailing ksather@ndseed.ndsu.edu.
Oregon
Jeff McMorran
Seed Specialist, Oregon Seed Certification Service
In 2016 Oregon accepted 2,853 acres of seed potatoes for certification based on field readings. Though final certification is dependent on winter grow-out readings, no serious problems have yet been encountered with the harvested lots. Acres not accepted for certification included 33 acres removed before first inspection (poor stand) and 58 acres rejected in the field due to virus levels (seed-borne). No lots were rejected for bacterial ring rot or nematodes. Little blackleg or mosaic was encountered during the field inspection phase. Inspectors found much less white mold and blackleg during this summer’s inspections than in 2015, perhaps thanks to milder weather.
Planting and growing conditions were near ideal in most of Oregon’s seed potato production areas in 2016. However, hot mid-season weather hastened the kill-down of early varieties to maintain size profiles. Harvest conditions were near ideal, with some delays encountered due to rain. Reported yields overall are average to high, depending on variety and planting regimes, except where yield has had to be sacrificed to maintain contracted size requirements.
Oregon’s five seed potato production areas are widely distributed and separated by hundreds of miles of desert and high mountains, ranging from northern Nevada and California to the northeast corner of Oregon. In the last few years there was a shift in acreage to the northern areas of the state, with an increase of about 200 acres in the Gilliam/Morrow County area. The Klamath Basin saw a decrease of about 200 acres, and there was a slight decrease in the acreage in northern Nevada.
Processing varieties consisting of Frito-Lay selections, Umatilla Russet, Ranger Russet, Alturas, Lamoka and Shepody make up about 45 percent of Oregon’s seed acreage. Fresh market russets like Russet Norkotah and Gala make up around 20 percent, and specialty varieties like Snowden, Blushing Belle, Purple Majesty and about 20 others make up the rest. There continues to be an increase in the acreage of red-skinned and purple-fleshed varieties. For the first time in some 30 years, there was no production of Russet Burbank seed in Oregon in 2016.
More information on Oregon varieties, acreage, and field readings, is available at www.seedcert.oregonstate.edu/potatoes.