by: Jenny Heap, MS, RDN
Picture the last time you went to the grocery store for farm-fresh potatoes. The beautiful display of colorful varieties we’ve come to expect didn’t happen by chance. You may not know it, but whether you picked up hearty Russets, robust reds, or colorful petite creamers, you purchased a masterpiece of nature over a decade in the making. Why? Relentless dedication to the lofty standards that define Wisconsin potatoes.
Wisconsin potato growers collaborate closely with the University of Wisconsin (UW) to achieve and sustain these standards for quality. Their commitment to research, innovation, and quality assurance is exemplified in two hardworking public-private partnerships: the UW-Madison potato breeding program and the Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification program.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Potato Breeding Program
Though there are countless potato varieties in the world (the International Potato Center’s estimate exceeds 4500), potatoes grown in the US fit into a few major categories: Russet, yellow, red, white, blue and purple, and fingerling. Multiple varieties in each category are grown locally in Wisconsin. In fact, when it comes to potato cultivation and research, Wisconsin is a center of innovation and home to top researchers who develop and test new potato varieties.
The University of Wisconsin potato breeding program selects new varieties for soil, climate, growing season, and crop pressures specific to Wisconsin. Here, new varieties are developed by cross-pollination to identify improved combinations of desired characteristics. It can take over a decade to develop a new variety with commercial potential, but improving environmental sustainability has long been the primary goal for breeders and promising varieties that require fewer crop protectants and less nitrogen to thrive are already under development.
Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program
What are “seed potatoes” and why do they need to be certified?
If you’ve ever planted a backyard crop, you likely made your own seed potatoes by cutting a whole potato into pieces, each having an eye that would later sprout and grow into a producing plant. This method (using a piece of the parent plant to produce a new plant) creates a clone, ensuring that desirable traits are consistently passed along. Potato growers use this method – called vegetative propagation – to plant their crops each year. This results in consistent qualities and characteristics we’ve come to know and love in our favorite potato varieties. But to keep these potatoes free of pathogens that can increase in number from one generation to the next, growers purchase certified pathogen-free seed potatoes each year.
Certification of seed potatoes in Wisconsin began in 1914 with the establishment of the Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program (WSPCP). It was patterned after earlier certification programs developed in Europe to control plant pathogens with potential to harm potato crops (think blight and the Irish potato famine of the 1840s).
Today, the WSPCP continues support Wisconsin growers, ensuring a high quality, consistent supply of locally grown Wisconsin seed potatoes. To be certified in Wisconsin, seed potatoes must be healthy and virtually free of plant pathogens known to affect crop size and quality. (These have no impact on human or animal health.) Certified seed potatoes grow stronger, healthier plants that are more resilient to common plant pathogens, and higher yielding. Seed potatoes must also be true to type, meaning farmers can expect to harvest the intended variety. By law, any farmer in the state planting five or more acres of potatoes is required to use seed potatoes certified under the program.
“At 112 years old, Wisconsin has one of the oldest and most respected seed potato certification programs in the U.S.” says Dr. Amanda Gevens, UW-Extension Potato and Vegetable Pathologist from the Department of Plant Pathology, UW–Madison. “Through rigorous inspection and testing of seed potatoes for [pathogens], the program keeps Wisconsin potatoes among the cleanest in the nation. This may be invisible to consumers, but we benefit from better yields, better storage, and better quality.”
Where do certified seed potatoes come from?
The potatoes we see at the grocery store likely trace their lineage several generations back to the Lelah Starks Elite Foundation Seed Potato Farm (Starks Farm) in Rhinelander, where high-quality early generation seed (minitubers) are produced in a controlled greenhouse environment by WSPCP staff to ensure they meet the highest health and quality standards.
Once the harvested minitubers have been carefully monitored and tested through one to two field generations at the Starks Farm, they are sold to seed potato farmers. These farmers play a critical role in producing certified seed potatoes by adhering to strict standards that ensure quality and health. The certified seed potatoes produced by these growers are then made available to industry partners, supporting the Wisconsin potato industry and contributing to the supply of healthy, high-quality potatoes nationwide.
The Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program is a long-standing, science-driven system that guarantees healthy crops and high-quality Wisconsin potatoes at retail, ensuring consistent varietal characteristics consumers have come to expect. Says Brooke Babler, Associate Director for Seed Certification, “WI potato growers take pride in producing healthy, high-quality potatoes to ensure consumers purchase a quality product at the grocery store. Purchasing WI-grown potatoes also supports this local industry.”
How do these programs benefit farmers?
- Environmental stewardship: Controlling pathogens reduces the need for crop protectants.
- Economic strength: Strong, pathogen-resistant plants allow farmers to harvest what they plant in a world of weather and climate uncertainty.
How do these programs benefit consumers?
- Affordable and abundant supply: Good crop yields result in an abundant supply of locally-grown healthy food at a lower retail cost.
- Quality: What we see at retail is a curated collection of the best-of-the-best potatoes within each category.
- Consistent sensory and culinary characteristics: Trusted, healthy potatoes provide consistent varietal characteristics consumers look for and stay fresh and healthy longer in storage.
- Peace of mind: Choosing Wisconsin-grown potatoes means putting high-quality, sustainably-sourced produce from local farms on your table.
University of Wisconsin’s state of the art breeding and seed potato certification programs ensure that what we find at retail is a curated collection of the best potatoes in each category. According to Gevens, “Through rigorous inspection and testing of seed potatoes for pathogens, the program keeps Wisconsin potatoes among the cleanest in the nation.”
Choosing Wisconsin-grown potatoes honors the tireless efforts of local potato farmers, University of Wisconsin breeders, researchers, program inspectors, seed potato growers, and countless others working behind the scenes to maintain the high standards that define potatoes from Wisconsin.
Use Wisconsin-grown potatoes in this recipe for Chimichurri Potato Breakfast Tacos from registered dietitian, Cara Harbstreet, to bring a lower carbon footprint meal to the table.
Choosing Wisconsin-grown potatoes means…
- Optimizing freshness.
- Choosing potatoes grown with the highest standards of sustainability.
- Reducing the carbon footprint of the meals you put on your table.
- Supporting the local economy by supporting businesses in your community.
- Strengthening your community by supporting local, multigenerational farm families.
- Keeping more of your food dollars in Wisconsin.
Explore more at eatwisconsinpotatoes.com.
Content produced in partnership with the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association. Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association represents growers committed to good agriculture, food safety, nutrition, traceability and providing America with fresh, high-quality produce. Wisconsin-grown potatoes offer more than just great taste. Local and sustainably sourced, they’re packed with nutrition no matter the variety. Every one of our Wisconsin Healthy Grown® farms is certified by an independent oversight organization. They ensure our growers pass annual Wisconsin Healthy Grown® Potatoes and Vegetables whole-farm audits, and that all our packers and shippers maintain the highest sustainability standards.
Look for the Wisconsin Healthy Grown® certification.
