 | January 2012 |
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|  Lawmakers, industry decry ‘backdoor approach’ to limiting potatoes in US schools
While pleased that new guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for school meals do not restrict servings of potatoes, members of the potato industry and the state’s congressional delegation are still concerned that the spud is taking a back seat to other vegetables. U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Mark Szymanski, a spokesman for the National Potato Council, issued statements saying they were not entirely pleased with the final rules for school meals issued by the USDA.
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| USDA issues new guidelines for school meals; potatoes remain unrestricted
Growrs at the Northwest potato growers meeting in the Tri-Cities in January at the Washington State Potato Conference will continue to see their produce on school lunch menus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued new guidelines for school lunches. And despite a request from the First Lady, potatoes will remain unrestricted on school menus.
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| McDonald’s adding books to Happy Meals in the UK
Children in the U.K. are finding vouchers for “Mudpuddle Farm” books in their Happy Meals next to the McNuggets and fries, reports the Telegraph. The fast-food giant has “given away” 9 million copies of the Michael Morpurgo books — significantly more than the usual amount of children’s books sold each week in the United Kingdom: 1.16 million. McDonald’s has long been criticized for including toys in its Happy Meals for children.
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| Crunch time for Irish crisp maker as launch nears
Poised to become part of the €9bn national food export success story in Ireland is family enterprise, Keogh's Crisps. Just two months from launch the posh crisp brand is eyeing up export markets.
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| Potato processing plant in Kyrgystan will be put into operation in mid-November
A potato processing plant in Talas oblast will be put into operation in mid-November. For today all the equipment of the plant is installed. Total production capacity of the plant will be 20 tons of potatoes per day and 8 thousand tons in a year. Earlier in 2008, according to the agreement between the governments of Kyrgyzstan and India, it was decided to build potato processing plant in Talas.
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| French fries image needs work
The French fry appears to be taking sole blame of Americans being obese. Many organizations are vilifying the French fry as a symbol of high calorie, nutritional-less junk food. Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said "no," when they released new guidelines that would have eliminated potatoes from school breakfasts and limited the amount of starchy vegetables, including potatoes, that could be served in school lunches. The potato industry fought back, and in October of last year Congress saved potatoes from cafeteria banishment. But on Jan. 13, the USDA decided suggest a limitation of the use of potatoes in school lunches.
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| McCain denies NZ move: Pressure mounts on Ballarat growers
McCAIN Foods in Ballarat has denied plans to shift its local plant to New Zealand within 18 months. But in a short written statement, Australia/New Zealand managing director Steve Yung has again put pressure on local growers. “The company is constantly evaluating the competitiveness of all plants in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia and inputs such as potatoes,” Mr Yung said. “McCain has commenced benchmarking programs and will be looking for productivity improvements from potato growers in 2012 to remain globally competitive.”
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| Yasheng Group to develop its potato deep-processing business
Yasheng Group, a high-growth diversified China-based agricultural company with US headquarters in California, recently announced plans to expand farming operations in 2012. This year Yasheng Group will further develop its potato deep-processing business, and is working to add a 5,000 ton potato processing line to further integrate its supply chain.
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| National Chip Week to raise public’s potato awareness
One of the Potato Council’s biggest annual awareness campaigns of the year kicks off next month in the shape of ‘Chip Week’. According to the Potato Council in the UK, at the heart of the campaign, which runs from February 20-26, will be the ‘Choice Chip’ Awards. These recognise and reward the quality chips being served up by fish and chip shops, pubs and restaurants around the country, as well as promoting their suppliers and processors.
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| McCain Foods in Australia looking for 'productivity improvements' in 2012
The Victorian Farmers Federation is worried about the long-term future of the giant McCain Foods' processing plant in Ballarat. A McCain spokesman told the Herald Sun yesterday it had no plans to shut down the factory within the next 18 months, but was evaluating all plants in Victoria. McCain Foods Australia and New Zealand managing director Steve Yung said: "McCain will be looking for productivity improvements from potato growers in 2012." The news comes as potato farmers come under increasing price pressure, particularly from potatoes exported by New Zealand.
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| Grower turned inventor focuses on affordability with new potato sorter
Few people know better than Greg Jones how important it is to sort and grade potatoes accurately and quickly. At the height of his 35 years as a grower, his operation sorted and loaded a semi-trailer once every 10 minutes during harvest. That’s 4.6 million pounds per day. As founder and president of AgSort Inc., St. Augustine, Fla., Jones has seen his idea for an efficient, affordable potato grader/sorter become a reality. Dubbed the E-Sorter, Jones unveiled his creation at Potato Expo 2012 in Orlando in early January.
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| High cost of production: Pakistani potato exports come to a halt
Due to a bumper Indian crop available at comparatively low cost in the international market, Pakistani export of the vegetable during the current year has come to a virtual halt causing millions of dollars worth of monthly loss to the national exchequer. Last year Pakistan exported around 350,000 tonnes of potato. Talking to Daily Times, Haji Shahjahan President Wholesale Vegetable Welfare Association Sabzi Mandi said this year despite huge crop of the vegetable, the export process is to suffer stagnation.
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| France to step up promotion of export potatoes says CNIPT president
France must be able to keep its position as EU’ largest potatoes exporter. This year the country will have to market over one million tons of potatoes. Sebastien Galland, president of CNIPT (the French potato industry organization), made these remarks last December when he announced that it will step up efforts for a more intense marketing campaign in the potato export countries of France. With a market share of over 20% and 19% of the total value, France is not only the largest exporter of table potatoes in Europe, but now also worldwide.
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| Wholesale potato prices nosedive in Pakistan
Potato prices have sharply declined as farmers are dumping potatoes onto the market due to lack of return compared to the total input cost, said one farmer on Saturday. Pakistani potatoes are being sold at the maximum rate of Rs400 per 40 kg in the Karachi wholesale market, against earlier rates which had been over Rs800 per 40 kg. Farmers Association of Pakistan Chairman Dr Muhammad Tariq Bucha told The News that farmers were dumping potatoes as it was difficult to pay labour cost for taking potatoes out of the field. Moreover, transportation cost was an additional burden on them.
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| Scottish potato producer to expand business in Russia
Potato producer Albert Bartlett plans to expand its business in eastern Europe and Russia after winning its first contracts in the region during last season’s severe drought. Accounts filed at Companies House show the Airdrie-based firm supplied Scottish tatties to the former Communist Bloc after domestic supplies failed during 2010 and 2011.
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| IFA: Retailers offering unfair price to Irish potato growers
The Irish Farmers Association said today that potato growers are being ripped off by retailers. Farmers get €130 per tonne of potatoes on average, compared to the average selling price of €500 per tonne in supermarkets. The IFA is holding an emergency meeting this evening to address what it claims is a crisis in the potato sector. IFA president John Bryan says farmers need a doubling of the price currently paid to them just to break even.
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| Jordanian farmers demand end to import of Israeli potatoes
Farmers and wholesalers in Jordan have demanded that the government stop imports of potatoes originating in Israel, the Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai reported last Thursday. According to the report, the Jordanian farmers are claiming that the policy of the Jordanian Agriculture Ministry is forcing them to sell their produce at a loss. The reason for this, they claim, is that potatoes imported from Israel have flooded the Jordanian markets and have caused their produce to accumulate.
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| Potatoes no longer big pay day for Northern Ireland farmers
Northern Ireland potato growers say a market glut has caused prices to crash and some banks to withdraw credit for the coming season. It once was a staple food but these days the potato is struggling to compete with likes of pasta and rice. It used to be the most lucrative crop grown on Northern Ireland farms but not any more.
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| Spud shortage takes toll on processing growers in Canadian province
A shortage of locally grown processing potatoes is threatening to make the Canadian province of Manitoba an importer of spuds for the first time in more than two decades and will lead to production cuts in at least one local processing plant. A spokesman for local potato growers said a nightmare growing season last year took a big bite out of Manitoba's 2011 potato production, and that will lead to a serious shortage of processing potatoes by June. He said because of the looming shortage, Manitoba's potato processors - McCain Foods (Canada) and Simplot - will likely have to import potatoes from Idaho or Washington state or shift some production to other North American plants until Manitoba's next potato crop is ready in August.
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| British farmer adopting new techniques when growing potatoes
Yorkshire Wolds seed potato producer Andrew Manfield shared with Perth conference delegates some of the particular problems associated with growing potatoes in this part of the country, one particular problem being the lack of soil. With only about 30in (140mm) of topsoil to work with in many fields, Mr Manfield, through his RTK Solutions precision farming business, has developed ways to make the most of it.
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| Water not the only factor in reducing size of British potato crops
Andrew Williams of root crop specialists Home Farm, Nacton, near Ipswich, reckons the business will be reducing its potato planted acreage this season by about 10 per cent. He says the decision was made last September and the lack of water was a major factor. “The shortage of water is a big worry,” says Mr Williams. North Norfolk potato grower Kit Papworth, of LF Papworth, says the current dry spell in the region is exceptional. “We have a reduced area of potatoes this year (drilling more oilseed rape instead), but I cannot say water availability was the sole reason. Poor contract prices and expensive land rents are more relevant,” he says.
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| PepsiCo to step up potato procurement in West Bengal
Potato farmers in West Bengal can look forward to some respite from market volatility next year. Encouraged by a beeline of interested farmers and keeping in tune with its corporate growth plan, PepsiCo India is planning to increase its procurement from West Bengal by almost one-third to 80,000 tonnes (60,000 tonnes in 2011) in 2012-13. The procurement was just about half at 40,000 tonnes in 2010-11.
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| North American potato production up 4%
Fall potato production in the United States and Canada is estimated at 481 million hundredweight, up 4 percent from 2010. The National Ag Statistics Service says U.S. fall potato production increased 6 percent to 389 million cwt while Stats Canada reports Canadian production was 5 percent lower at 91.9 million cwt. U.S. yield slipped 200 pound to 414 cwt per acre but harvested acres increased 58,000 to 939, 200 total harvested. Canadian harvested acreage increase 5,000 to 348,200 acres but yield fell nearly 1900 pounds to 263.9 cwt per acre. Total potato production in the U.S., spring, summer and fall of 2011, was 427.4 million cwt up 23 million from 2010.
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| US: Acres in potato production increase in Pacific Northwest
Officials associated with the potato industry in the Pacific Northwest have indicated that acreage planted to potatoes in Oregon and Washington increased this season. “Oregon increased acreage about 8 percent in 2011 to around 38,000 acres,” said Bill Brewer, president and chief executive officer of the Oregon Potato Commission. In Washington, “Acreage is up about 25,000 acres, which is a big one-year jump for Washington state,” said Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission. “But most of that increase was for early-season processing varieties.”
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| USPB's smartphone app caters to growers
Technology was evident in virtually every booth at the Potato Expo 2012, and the U.S. Potato Board’s booth was no exception. The Colorado-based USPB unveiled a free app for smartphones at the expo. It is designed to keep potato growers and others in the industry up to date with issues and events, said David Fraser, USPB vice president of industry communications and policy.
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| Potato extension program launched in Australia
AUSVEG has launched a three-year initiative which aims to enhance communication within Australia’s potato industry and promote clearer information exchange. The Potato Industry Extension Program, jointly managed by Ausveg and Horticulture Australia Limited, is specifically aimed at ensuring that growers and processors are made better aware of the outcomes of Research and Development (R&D) programs funded by industry and the Australian Government and are provided with information that can be used on a practical level.
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| UK: Smartphone app for measuring potato ground cover
Cambridge University Farm is working on a smartphone app to measure ground cover in potato crops. "Ground cover is a key input for yield prediction model, irrigation scheduling and blight predictions," Marc Allison, a researcher at the Farm, explained. The current technology for measuring it was tried and tested but cumbersome, he said. It usually involved carrying a wooden-framed grid into the field and counting the number of squares more than half filled with green leaves. "It works well, with reproducible results."
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| Mozambique plans to stop importing seed potatoes by 2013
Mozambique’s Agricultural Development Fund (FDA) plans to make efforts to store seed potatoes as the government has set a target to stop importing the product by 2013, the Fund’s chairman said. As part of the re-launch of the potato crop in 2005 and following a constant increase in production the FDA provided funding to seed company Sementes de Moçambique (Semoc) to buy four refrigeration units costing 14 million meticals and to set them up at the company’s headquarters in Chimoio. As well as investing in the acquisition of machinery to process between 40 and 60 tons of potatoes daily, as compared to 14 tons previously, Semoc also has a refrigeration system made up of eight units, four of which were funded by the FDA, with capacity for 200 tons each, if stored in bulk.
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| Exports thriving for Scottish seed potato growers
Although other parts of the potato industry are in the doldrums, with lower returns than last year and much higher rejection percentages on account of the wet summer and lifting season, seed potato growers are busy exporting. “Although it is too early to be definite, it looks as if there will be another big tonnage being exported this winter,” according to Mark Prentice, the head of seed and exports for the Potato Council. The main market for Scottish seed is Egypt and loadings started earlier this year to avoid a repetition of last year when severe weather in December interrupted deliveries.
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| Surge in demand for prime home-grown seed potatoes in Britain
Seed potato exports from Britain are expected to break more records following a highly-successful season last year. The Potato Council’s head of seed and export, Mark Prentice, is looking forward to a busy time at one of Europe’s biggest fresh produce events, Fruit Logistica in Berlin next month. “Last year we smashed through the 100,000 tonne barrier thanks to Britain’s growing reputation as a world-wide supplier of quality seed potatoes,” said Mr Prentice. “Over the past 10 years we have seen a 43pc increase in trade that is a result of careful development of seed potato varieties to ensure great results in varying climatic conditions.
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