November 2015
FARM FAIR
East Oregonian/Hermiston Herald
What’s in a potato?
Page 5
Northwest potato
production drops
despite more acres
By JOHN O’CONNELL
EO Media Group
EO file photo
Hermiston potato farmer Greg Juul points out the shallow eye of the Russet-Norkotah variety of potato he is
currently harvesting outside of Hermiston.
Spuds pack more nutrients than many realize
By JADE MCDOWELL
EO Media Group
Potatoes get a bad rap when it comes
to nutrition, but research geneticist Roy
Navarre says they’re actually a nutri-
ent-dense food.
“It’s a common misperception that
if you eat a potato you’re only getting
starch,” he said.
It’s those types of misconceptions
he’ll be challenging during his presen-
tation “What’s in a Potato?” during the
Hermiston Farm Fair & Trade Show.
Navarre is a research geneticist and
adjunct professor at the Washington
State University Irrigated Agriculture
Research and Extension Center in
Prosser. He has been studying potato
disease resistance and the nutritional
enhancement of potatoes.
It’s true potatoes have a lot of starch
in them, he said, but everyone needs
complex carbohydrates in their diet, and
potatoes are one of the primary sources
of potassium. They also have a range of
other vitamins and minerals.
“They do have quite a bit of vitamin
C,” Navarre said.
It’s also a misconception that most of
the nutrients in a potato are in the skin.
Navarre said there might higher concen-
trations there, but peeling a potato still
leaves plenty of nutrients in the Àesh.
One study found that potatoes, along
with beans, provide the most nutrients
per dollar when it comes to growing
crops. They are the fourth largest
crop in the world. That makes them
a key to ¿ghting hunger worldwide,
Navarre said, noting that China recently
announced potatoes are going to be a
key means of providing food security
for its citizens.
“Potatoes are our stars, in a way,”
Navarre said.
As a result, Navarre and his team
at the extension center in Prosser are
studying thousands of genotypes for
potatoes in the hopes of ¿nding ways to
increase the crop’s nutritional value.
The researchers are doing controlled
experiments to study the affects of soil
type, climate and other environmental
factors on the concentration of vitamins
and minerals in the potatoes. They are
also looking at different varieties of
potatoes and whether it makes a differ-
ence when the potatoes are harvested.
Navarre said baby potatoes, or new
potatoes, tend to have the highest nutri-
tional value.
The color of the potato makes a
difference too, he said. Yellow pota-
toes have a particularly high level of
cartenoids, for example.
“There can be quite a lot of differ-
ence,” he said.
Potatoes are Oregon’s seventh largest
crop by value. The 2015 potato harvest
yielded 1.1 million tons of potatoes
grown on 38,900 acres. Umatilla
County and Morrow County combined
account for more than half that total,
according to the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
Hermiston’s
own Agricultural
Research and Extension Center also
studies potatoes, including experiments
to increase their nutritional value. Sagar
Sathuvalli, assistant professor of potato
breeding and genetics, leads HAREC’s
research program aimed at developing
potatoes that are more nutritious and
less susceptible to disease and pests.
Potato production is down about 2 percent, both
in Idaho and throughout the Northwest, even though
growers planted more acres, according to a Nov. 10
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service report.
The NASS report also shows a signi¿cant decline in
the percentage of high-quality potatoes. Upon learning
that the crop might be smaller than many believed at
harvest, industry sources say fresh sheds have slowed
down shipments, contributing to price increases.
Idaho growers planted 325,000 acres of potatoes, up
4,000 acres from last season, but challenging weather
conditions reduced yields by 13 hundredweight per acre
to 402 hundredweight per acre. Idaho production dropped
to 132.32 million hundredweight, down from 132.88
million hundredweight last season.
Washington growers increased their spud plantings
by 5,000 acres to 170,000 acres, but their yields per acre
dropped by 25 hundredweight to 590 hundredweight,
lowering total production from 101.475 million hundred-
weight to 100.3 million hundredweight.
Oregon’s potato crop held steady at 39,000 acres, but
average yields per acre dropped by 20 hundredweight to
560 hundredweight. Oregon’s total production dropped
from 22.562 million hundredweight to 21.784 million
hundredweight.
The U.S. crop was up slightly, at 445.602 million hundred-
weight compared with 442.17 million hundredweight.
Further reducing the supply of top-quality potatoes, the
percentage of Idaho spuds that met No. 1 speci¿cations
dropped from 80.1 percent in 2014 to 73.7 percent this
season, and the percentage of culls increased by 0.2
percent to 1.5 percent, according to NASS.
Washington’s No. 1 spuds, at 74.9 percent, were down
3.7 percent, and its culls increased by half a percent. NASS
estimated 75.5 percent of Oregon spuds graded No. 1, down
3.1 percent, and culls increased by nearly a full percentage.
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