Idaho Falls, Idaho
November 15, 2005
A new era has opened in the Idaho potato industry.
The University of Idaho
(UI), in its role as a partner in the Tri-State Potato
Variety Development Program, has signed a licensing
agreement with Western Marketing LLC to produce and sell the
new Western Russet, a proprietary potato variety.
This opportunity arises
through a provision in the Tri-State policy that allows
one-owner licensing of varieties previously shelved due to a
lack of industry interest, says Steve Love, UI Extension
horticulturist.
Love says initial evaluations
of Western Russet-originally tested under the designation
A7961-1-found it to be adequate for early processing, but no
processing companies elected to pursue it. Several years
after it was dropped from consideration for release, a group
of Idaho growers sought permission to bring it out of
hibernation. When it performed in an exceptional manner for
fresh-market use, the group-recast as Western Marketing
LLC-was granted an exclusive-use license under the Plant
Variety Protection Act.
Seed grower Gary Steed, one of
the founders of Western Marketing LLC, says he is confident
about the potato's future because it offers distinct
advantages to both the producer and the consumer. Steed has
been growing Western Russet since 1992. He says 80 percent
or more of its tubers-a very high level-grade as U.S. No. 1.
Western Russet also stores as well as Russet Burbank when
properly managed, Steed says, and it exceeds the old
standard variety in starch content by an average of 9
percent. That's good news for processors.
University of Idaho
evaluations have shown Western Russet to be comparable to
Russet Burbank in flavor, color and taste. According to
Steed, it also offers consumers 9 percent more protein and
36 percent more vitamin C than either Russet Burbank or
Russet Norkotah and "fits all segments of the industry from
french fries to tablestock."
Western Russet consistently
outperforms Russet Norkotah in Tri-State tests for yield,
tuber size distribution and tuber solids. "It has good
end-use quality and is an excellent all-purpose potato,"
says Love. "It yields well, holds good shape and produces
tubers with good quality. It's bound to become an important
variety for fresh-market producers and may also work its way
into the processing market."
However, like any potato
variety, Western Russet is "not without its problems," Love
says: it is susceptible to blackspot bruise and tuber early
blight infection. "Neither of these problems is
unmanageable, as long as we educate growers on how to
maintain tuber quality during storage," Love notes. Western
Russet balances these problems by its exceptional ability to
avoid other defects, including knobs, growth cracks, hollow
heart, net necrosis and stem-end browning.
Interest by United Fresh
Potato Growers of Idaho "should raise the prospects of
Western Russet to the levels the new potato deserves," Love
says.
Although the new licensing
agreement represents new ground for both the University of
Idaho and Western Marketing LLC, Love says the likelihood
for success appears good. "The licensing arrangement
encourages aggressive marketing-something the old
public-release process did not favor," he says. "Also, the
exclusive nature of the agreement makes it possible to
control inventory and match demand with supply. This should
make it more profitable for participating growers."
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