Potato Review

60 POTATO REVIEW NOVEMBER 2021 INTERNATIONAL NEWS Mexico supply: Battle wages on AN ongoing battle for the right to import US potatoes into Mexico continues and there are signs that Mexican growers are shifting tactics in a bid to deflect imports, it has been claimed. Chief Executive O cer of The National Potato Council, Kam Quarles, told the Idaho Grower Shippers Association at the organisation’s 93rd annual convention that US potato interests received an emphatic ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court in April. Mexico’s highest court voted 5-0 to dispense with Mexican potato industry objections to expanded US fresh potato access in Mexico. Currently, US fresh potatoes can only be distributed with 26 kilometers of the border. Kam said the National Potato Council and other organisations are working through the remaining legal process, in addition to working to reinstate US potato access through the regulatory process. However, Mexican potato growers funded increased government inspections of US potatoes within a week of the supreme court ruling, he said. The increased industry-funded inspections, which are unprecedented in agricultural trade, could constrain the US industry’s ability to access the Mexican market. “We are going to need to press very hard on that,” he said at the meeting. Optimism inMaine MAINE potato farmers were feeling optimistic ahead of harvest time. They anticipated a solid crop and stronger demand thanks to reopening restaurants. A decline in acreage was reversed with an extra 8,000 acres planted this summer, which is another positive sign according to a report in My Journal Courier. In Maine with direct sales in the neighborhood of $300 million supporting about 2,400 jobs and growers hoped a better yield would coincide with greater demand as more restaurants and cafeterias opened. About 65% of Maine’s potatoes are processed. There is a 16% increase in acreage devoted to potatoes thanks to increased demand, with 58,000 acres planted with potatoes this summer, the vast majority in Aroostook County. Volunteer harvesters sought VOLUNTEER potato harvesters were sought to help with a community scheme in Southern Maryland in the US. Those in the community helped the plantation plant acres of di erent varieties of potatoes. Historic Sotterley’s Growing for Good program grows the potatoes and other produce for donation to local food banks and pantries. Sotterley’s Growing for Good program is now in its eigth year, and over the past seven years, has donated more than 70,000lb of fresh produce and other foods to the community. Heat and drought take their toll in Red River Valley HIGH temperatures and lack of rain took their toll on potato crops in the Red River Valley of North Dakota. Yields and quality have su ered, according to National Agricultural Statistics, with both processing and fresh stock being a ected. Of these, 8% were said to be very poor, 14% poor and 63% fair. The agency rated only 13% of the crop as good and 2% excellent. Yields of red potatoes grown for the fresh market have been reduced but growers hope recent rains will add weight to the crop and make digging easier. The Red River Valley is the largest producer of red potatoes in the United States, and North Dakota and Minnesota combined is the third largest potato growing region in the country. Potato farmers in the Northern Plains raise around 62% of potatoes for fry processing, 10% for seed, 12% for chipping and 16% for the fresh market. Giant potato is anair BnB A six-ton potato made of steel, plaster, and concrete has been touring the US since 2012, and is now open in Boise, Idaho. Having recently been transformed into an Airbnb, it includes everything needed for a night’s stay, including a custom-made bed and refrigerator. McAlister’s Deli, an American chain of fast casual restaurants, recently o ered customers the opportunity to compete in a competition to win a stay inside the huge potato structure, along with a ride on the Big Idaho Potato Truck, a semitrailer that carries a four-ton fiberglass potato.