U of I to host 57th annual Idaho Potato Conference

By John O’Connell

University of Idaho

POCATELLO – University of Idaho will host the 57^th annual Idaho Potato Conference Jan. 22-23, offering the latest research and news affecting regional farmers and others involved in the potato industry.

The 2025 conference will be held in the Pond Student Union Building, located at 921 S. Eighth Ave. on the Idaho State University campus in Pocatello and will attract a crowd of 600 to 900 people.

An adjoining trade show will include more than 70 booths and displays highlighting agricultural products and services, and some of the more technical sessions will offer pesticide recertification and Certified Crop Adviser credits.

Registration for the conference is now open. The cost is $40 per person prior to midnight on Jan. 15 and $50 per person after the early deadline, with onsite registration available. 

“This is a great opportunity for people to network with each other, make connections, learn something new and engage,” said Kasia Duellman, a U of I Extension seed potato specialist who is among the event’s organizers.

The conference will include concurrent sessions hosted in four different rooms according to theme –research, technical aspects of potato production, Potatoes 101 and Spanish language sessions.

Research talks will be 25 minutes each, with other sessions spanning 50 minutes.

Leaders with potato organizations, including Potatoes USA, National Potato Council and the Idaho Potato Commission, will offer industry updates, and guest talks are scheduled featuring two Washington State University potato researchers – Tim Waters, who will speak about insect management, and Jacob Blauer, who will cover potato agronomy.

An advisory committee comprising researchers, growers, consultants, crop advisors and chemical company representatives suggests topics to make certain the conference content is relevant to stakeholders.

James Woodhall, a U of I associate professor of plant pathology based at the Parma Research and Extension Center who is among the event’s organizers, believes two of the major disease-related issues affecting 2024 potato production were verticillium wilt and powdery scab, which is caused by an organism that can transmit potato mop-top virus (PMTV).

Research into both diseases will be covered at the conference.

From 8:30 a.m. to 9:20 a.m. on Jan. 22, Jeff Miller, with Rupert-based Miller Research, and Phillip Wharton, an associate professor in U of I’s Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, will discuss alternatives to fumigation and sustainable approaches to managing verticillium wilt, which causes early die in potatoes.

Wharton has secured a federal Specialty Crop Block Grant through the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to develop a new test for verticillium wilt and to evaluate alternative chemicals and biological products for controlling it in the field.

Duellman and her team aided Wharton by collecting samples from commercial fields. Woodhall’s lab has also targeted verticillium wilt, conducting field trials in Parma exploring how varietal susceptibility might affect disease severity.

Woodhall, Miller and Jonathan Whitworth, a U.S. Department of Agriculture research plant pathologist based in Aberdeen, will discuss the recent rise in PMTV cases. Whitworth was the first to document PMTV in Idaho in 2012.

“We’re getting a lot of interest for testing for PMTV and a lot of interest for research, as well,” Woodhall said. “Once it gets into the soil, there are no decent control options, except for keeping it out.”

Duellman will present another topic that’s gaining interest among the industry beginning at 9:55 a.m. on Jan. 22 – incorporating biopesticides into a potato disease management program.

Biopesticides are especially important for organic farmers, who are prohibited from using chemical pesticides, but they’re also gaining interest among conventional growers who are seeking ways to document how they’re moving toward sustainable production in response to consumer demand.

UI Extension agricultural economist Patrick Hatzenbuehler will speak on the economic impacts of vole damage to Idaho potato growers at 11:35 a.m. on Jan. 22.

UI Extension educator Jason Thomas, Minidoka County, who specializes in managing insects and rodents, will invite potato growers to complete a survey to document the scope of the vole problem throughout southern and eastern Idaho.

The conference is organized in conjunction with a large, annual equipment show presented by Spectra Productions called the Eastern Idaho Ag Expo, hosted Jan. 21-23 in ISU’s Holt Arena, 550 Memorial Drive.

Many attendees of the conference and expo also participate in the annual Idaho Crop Improvement Association Seed Potato Growers’ Seminar, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 21 in Red Lion Hotel Pocatello, 1555 Pocatello Creek Road.