A Combo as Classic as a Burger and Fries
When you think of potatoes, you may think of Idaho, and with good reason! Idaho has been growing more potatoes than any other state since 1957, according to the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC). What does it take to wear that crown? Try 145 million hundredweight (cwt), or 14.5 BILLION pounds, according to 2023 production data from USDA. That works out to 440 cwt per acre and is roughly one-third of the entire volume of potatoes annually produced in the United States. From a value perspective, in Idaho, the potato reigns supreme at more than $1.5 billion in farm gate value.
Idaho is rightfully proud of its status atop the U.S. potato industry. In fact, for our U.S. readers, the chances are pretty good that you’ve seen an Idaho license plate adorned with a potato and the tagline “Famous Potatoes” at the bottom. Perhaps you’ve even watched the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl played on Boise State’s blue “Smurf Turf” every December. Or maybe you’ve seen the “Big Idaho Potato” rolling through your home town or across your television screen. Just this week, the Big Idaho Potato made news by visiting Oahu for the first time.
The state is synonymous with potatoes–especially russeted varieties that make up the huge majority of French fries and tater tots–and you don’t have to search hard for evidence of foodservice influencers advising their online audiences to seek out “Idaho Potatoes” for their recipes. Side note: The term “Idaho Potato” isn’t a potato variety but a geographic indicator and therefore a never ending source of puzzlement among consumers. Conduct an informal survey of your friends and family and you’ll likely see this illustrated in real time which speaks volumes about IPC’s marketing ability.
To be the industry leader in potato production requires volumes of research to support the hardworking potato farmers of Idaho’s Treasure Valley, Magic Valley, and elsewhere. Enter the University of Idaho (U of I) in Moscow (pronounced MOS-coh), a mere stone’s throw away from the state’s western border with Washington. Although the main campus is the nerve center of Idaho’s only land-grant university, potato research is conducted at several locations across the state, including the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center in the southeast portion of the state. The Aberdeen REC is home to U of I’s potato variety development program and is a major contributor to potato breeding and trialing efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Many of the varieties developed in Aberdeen find their way through regional testing programs before graduating to the National Fry Processors Trial (NFPT) at Potatoes USA (https://potatoesusa.medius.re/ — a client-approved user registration is free, but required). The main campus in Moscow is also home to the newly-renovated and state-of-the-art Seed Potato Germplasm Program that supports the global potato production industry.
As a partner to the national potato industry since 2016, we are enthusiastic supporters of all potato-growing regions in the U.S. Yet, Idaho’s unique role as a production and market leader in the U.S. potato industry is undeniable. That’s why today we are particularly proud to announce our partnership with the University of Idaho as it delivers world class agricultural variety testing data to the state’s potato growers and processors in support of the famous Idaho Potato brand and the larger industry.
“Well over half of U.S.-grown potatoes come from the Pacific Northwest,” said Ryan Krabill, Director of Business Development for Medius Ag. “With the addition of Idaho’s potato program and our existing relationship with the potato program at Oregon State University, our partnerships directly support more than 63 percent of potato production in the PNW and more than 50 percent of U.S. production. Looking ahead, we’re excited to bring even more efficiency to the potato variety development and testing pipeline through future partnerships. Doing so will save industry resources and deliver an enhanced user experience to the entire industry from researcher to processor.”
The Idaho potato variety testing data platform is not only notable because it represents the largest crop in Idaho, but also because it links Idaho’s potato trial data with that from Oregon State University and Colorado State University, which is particularly advantageous to frozen potato processors with facilities located throughout the western United States, including Simplot, McCain, and Lamb Weston. Data users can now analyze trial data from uipotato.medius.re, osupotato.medius.re, or csupotato.medius.re and view it in the context of other varieties tested in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The enhanced ability to share and analyze variety testing data seamlessly across state lines is a feature that we expanded and highlighted earlier this month. As with all platform upgrades, these new features are available at no additional cost to our clients.
If you are interested in seeing how Medius can make your data more useful and powerful, send us a note at info@mediusag.com. Or, simply reach out to us on one of our social media channels or give us a follow. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
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