Wisconsin State Potato Seed Report 2023

Wisconsin seed potato growers entered 9,747.8 acres for certification during the 2023 growing season. Acreage was up 403.3 acres from 2022, and the largest acreage entered in several years.

Certified potato varieties

The 2023 top five certified potato varieties:

1. Proprietary varieties, 2,723.36 acres
2. Atlantic, 943.65 acres
3. Lamoka (PVP), 689.63 acres
4. Silverton (PVP), 640.01 acres
5. Snowden, 607.22 acres

Wisconsin seed growers remain focused on growing the chipping varieties Atlantic, Lamoka, Snowden, and proprietary. There was a slight increase in acreage of Atlantic and proprietary varieties, while Lamoka acreage decreased by approximately 10%. Mackinaw continues to gain interest in the state with an additional 125 acres planted this past season. Silverton remains a strong fresh-market russet; however, acreage of Caribou russet continues to increase, and there is growing interest in Plover Russet and the recently named dual-purpose variety, Portage Russet.

Planting occurred in Wisconsin on schedule with most growers starting early to mid-May and finishing by early to mid-June. It was a very dry growing season with the need for continuous irrigation throughout most of the growing season. Vine-killing dates were in alignment with previous years.

Harvest season started mid- October with slightly warm-to-perfect temperatures and dry soil conditions, resulting in efficient harvesting of seed lots. The latter part of the harvest season was rainy and cold, but the season still wrapped up on schedule. Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification inspectors observed excellent tuber quality and size across most seed potato lots, and Wisconsin seed growers experienced higher-than- average yields.

There were 16 seed lots downgraded from foundation to certified during field inspections and two seed lots were rejected. No late blight was observed during field inspections, and due to the dry growing season, very little disease pressure was observed.

Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification staff are working diligently with seed growers to collect and gas seed potato lots, which will be shipped to Hawaii for the upcoming postharvest test. A combination of visual inspections and ELISA testing will be used to certify postharvest seed potato lots.

For more information, click here.

Brooke Babler, associate director of Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program