The annual Potato Field Day in the High Plains featuring the Texas A&M University AgriLife Potato Breeding and Variety Development Program will be held July 13. The program is jointly hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Bruce Barrett Springlake Potatoes, Inc.
Attendees should assemble at 10 a.m. at Springlake Potato Sales, located 12.5 miles north of Littlefield, Texas, and 8.5 miles south of Springlake, Texas, on State Highway 385, says Creighton Miller, AgriLife Research potato breeder in College Station.
Joining Miller in hosting this year’s field day for AgriLife Research is new potato breeder Isabel Vales of College Station, Texas, who joined the breeding and variety development program in January.
The tour will then move to the plots on Barrett Farm, where Miller has more than 200 different potato plantings for viewing. He will also provide updates on the program’s latest releases, Harlequin Gold and Reveille Russet.
Miller says side-by-side plantings of each variety allow digging of one row of tubers for viewing at the field day, while leaving the second row for plant canopy observation. A field book will be provided with information for each variety.
Julien Levy, postdoctoral research associate; Sam Vigue, Texas A&M student; and Douglas Scheuring, senior research associate, all participants with the Texas-based zebra chip initiative in College Station, will be available to discuss current research and issues.
Barrett will provide an overview of his current production season, and representatives from various potato seed companies will also be present to discuss their products.
For more information, contact Miller at (979) 219-3388 or jcmillerjr@tamu.edu.
Source: LMT Online