In this tongue-in-cheek forecast from the Spudwire Weather Service, a nervous potato meteorologist confronts an unprecedented Potato Cloud and a Yukon Gold heatwave officially classified as “Fry Heat.” As butter drizzle warnings and mash slide alerts roll in, farmers, agronomists and local cafes scramble to adapt, wondering if their crops will stay cool – or end up crispy – under the world’s first fry weather emergency for spud lovers everywhere.
This feature examines how potato growers can move from survival mode to long-term stability by treating resilience as a whole-farm strategy – integrating soil health, smarter rotations, robust storage, contracts, financial buffers, better data, and stronger human networks. It argues that in a harsher climate, the most successful businesses will not be those with the highest peak yields, but those able to absorb shocks, adapt, and stay in the game.
This article explores how potatoes are quietly entering the humane farming conversation. It traces the links between potato production, livestock feed, manure use, plant-based proteins, and farmer transitions out of intensive animal agriculture. By highlighting mixed farms, Transfarmation-style initiatives, and the ethical dilemmas around byproducts, it argues that potatoes can help support more humane, climate-smart systems and serve as a meeting place between farmers, animals, and a changing food system.
Potato farming is drowning in fragmented data, yet only a fraction informs real decisions. This article argues that the next competitive edge will come from turning field, storage, and processing data into simple, repeatable ‘decision engines’. By standardizing records, closing seasonal feedback loops, and using AI for pattern recognition rather than silver bullets, growers, storage managers, and processors can learn faster, cut risk, and protect margins in an unstable climate.
The Potato Industry Confidence Survey, initiated by GB Potatoes, aims to assess business confidence, growth trends, and future challenges in Britain’s potato sector. Fred Searle notes that this survey will provide essential nationwide benchmarks of potato cultivation, offering insights into production levels, operational realities, and environmental impacts. Open until January 16, 2026, it seeks to inform investment decisions and industry developments. Growers can participate online.
Consolidation is reshaping who holds power in the global potato chain, from fields to fry plants and retailers. A handful of processors, retailers, input multinationals and digital platforms dominate decisions on contracts, prices, varieties and standards, often squeezing growers, workers and communities. The article explains how this buyer power works in practice and outlines tools – from co-ops to fair trading rules and data governance – to rebalance the system.
German potato farmers are facing frustration despite a record harvest, as increased yields and cultivated areas have led to excessive market supply and falling prices. Farmer Fabian Wigger highlights the challenge of unsold potatoes, with some growers allowing crops to rot or diverting them to biogas plants. Wigger, relying on direct sales, must still adjust prices due to retail changes, noting the unprecedented storage issues his farm faces.
Record crops in western Europe have flipped the potato market from shortage to surplus, driving free-buy prices down and pushing surplus tonnes into feed, biogas and waste outlets. This article unpacks the causes of the glut, its impact on farmers, processors, traders, retail and consumers, and contrasts Europe’s situation with tighter or rebuilding markets in North America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, outlining what the sector must change next.
The province is negotiating to buy approximately half of the potato wart index fields in Prince Edward Island as part of a new buyback program. With 37 such designated sites identified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the province is utilizing $10.5 million for this purpose. Agriculture Minister Bloyce Thompson expressed optimism about the program, which aims to restore the fields through reforestation efforts.
Representatives from Brazil’s seed sector met with Dutch officials to explore regulatory and technical cooperation, particularly regarding seed potatoes. The meeting introduced Brazilian delegates to Dutch representatives Alf de Wit and Inge Horsmeier, discussed phytosanitary requirements for importing seed potatoes, and highlighted the planned visit by the Dutch Secretary of Defense to discuss plant health. A memorandum of understanding aims to enhance innovation and sustainability in agriculture.
In Pansy, Manitoba, retired couple Melvin and Helen Kachur have turned their three-acre “Garden of Eden” into a lifeline for local food banks. Growing and donating thousands of pounds of potatoes and vegetables, they honour Mel’s Ukrainian family history of Holodomor hunger while inviting volunteers and local businesses to help. Their story opens Potato News Today’s new Potato People with Big Hearts series on quiet generosity in the potato chain.
Lamb Weston celebrates its 75th anniversary by launching a retail range in Singapore, its first entry into Southeast Asia, offering four fry styles exclusively at FairPrice. The fries feature the innovative Stealth™ batter for enhanced crispiness and are Halal-certified, vegan, and gluten-free. The company emphasizes sustainability with thinner packs made from renewable materials. Introductory offers and sampling events will promote these products, showcasing Lamb Weston’s commitment to quality and innovation in home dining.
A short video of “Bill”, an 80-year-old volunteer toymaker in the UK, prompted a new focus on everyday generosity in the potato sector. Potato News Today is inviting readers to share stories of quiet ‘potato Bills’ – growers, processors, storage managers, workers or community groups using potatoes to support disadvantaged children, families or communities. If you know such a person or project, please email lukie@potatonewstoday.com with details and a photo.
The European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) will host a joint Agronomy, Physiology and Post Harvest sections meeting in Warsaw, Poland, from 16–19 June 2026. The event will focus on field agronomy, plant physiology, storage and processing under changing climate and market conditions. Registration and abstract submission open in December 2025, with deadlines on 31 March 2026, and limited financial support planned for attending PhD students and early-career research community.