Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

*Call to Order: Jeff Koym, Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:30 PM. *Introductions: Introductions were dispensed with because all attendees were present at the earlier TriState Meeting. *Approval of Agenda and Minutes: The agenda and last year's minutes were unanimously accepted and approved. *Administrative Advisor's Report: Chair Koym distributed a draft document to be used by Administrative Advisor Greg Bohach (unable to attend) in nominating WERA027 for the Multi State Research Award. Jeff Koym, Rich Novy and Creighton Miller were thanked for their time and effort in preparing the document for submission. Chair Koym stated that Administrative Advisor Greg Bohach conveyed that time is approaching for the five year resubmission of the WERA027 Project. Russ Karow reminded the group that the WERA027 Project proposal should include a strong extension component. Volunteers for the committee include Mark Pavek, Rich Novy, Isabel Vales, Jeff Koym, Jeanne Debons and Chuck Brown (current chair of WERA027) will serve as chair of the committee. Russ Karow mentioned that it was important to include extension outcomes, impacts and results expected from the proposed work in the project proposal. *State Reports: State reports from Washington, Idaho, and Oregon were covered in the morning TriState Meeting. Creighton Miller updated the group on the status of his position in Texas and gave an overview of Zebra Chip and other activities (see Texas report under accomplishments). He noted that he will only be working half time in the future. David Holm presented an overview of the Colorado work this year (see Colorado report under accomplishments). Don Kirby said that Harry Carlson's position at Tule Lake, CA would be filled by Rob Wilson from Susanville. He noted that the industry in the Tule Lake area has moved from 100% fresh market to 50% chips in a very short time - these are produced for Frito-Lay. Water will be an issue, but he felt that at least the IMRAC had a contingency plan that would cover their needs. Budgets will also be an issue. *Accomplishments by State were presented: (See accomplishments for more information) *Status on Recent Projected Releases, Seed Increases, and PVP Updates: Status on recent releases and seed increases, as well as PVP updates, were reported in the earlier TriState Meeting or in the Colorado and Texas State reports. *Update on Western Regional Potato Variety Database: Isabel Vales reported on the Western Region potato database. She said that some files were on the Oregon website and that they had settled on using Access as the platform, since it is widely distributed and with Version 7 the conversion of Excel files to Access is much easier than before. Creighton Miller asked about Steve James's position as it related to the website - James reported that the future of the website is unknown after his departure. *Germplasm Exchange within the Western Region: David Holm discussed the need for a blanket Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) among Western Region cooperators, so that an individual MTA was not required for clones and seedlings each year. It was unanimously agreed that there is a need for such a document. Jeanne Debons said that she would contact all the entities and try to get a consensus draft from the universities and agencies. Rich Novy noted that it was important to work with Dave Nicholson, USDA on this agreement. *Criteria for Grading Fingerlings: David Holm presented his proposal for grading fingerling types (see handouts SW6 and SW7). Industry representatives agreed that the ideal length is 2" to 4" followed by 4" to 6". There was unanimous endorsement of the standards as presented by Holm. *Centralization of Future Meeting Sites: The group reiterated that the WERA027 meeting should be held in central locations, with specific site to be decided by the hosting state. Next year's meeting will be held in Salt Lake City and hosted by Idaho. January 26th, 2010 was the date agreed by the group. *Western Regional 2008 Trial Results and Organization of the 2009 Trial: Russet results led by Rich Novy. Post-harvest results presented by Rick Knowles. Chip Trial results presented by Peggy Bain. There was a discussion on the adoption of a uniform protocol for grading chips, with a breakout of 1 7/8" - 1 3/4" diameter and >4" as important grades. The Red/Specialty results were presented by Darren Culp - industry indicated that 1-3oz size is most important to them. It was also suggested that spacing should be added to the Colored & Specialty Trials. The disposition of entries and next year's trials led to an acrimonious discussion of trial sizes and entries allowed by each program. Jeanne Debons made a motion to cap the number of entries in each trial. The discussion resulted in a limit of four entries per program in each trial, for a maximum of 22 entries (including checks) per trial. If a program, in a given year, does not use its allocation then another program would be able to use that slot. The motion was seconded and passed. Steve James reviewed and verified the seed shipping list with the group. *Additional Business: Isabel Vales presented an abbreviated version of an overview of the SolCap Project. *Election of Secretary: Zach Holden, as he was leaving the meeting, was nominated and unanimously elected as 2010 Secretary. Chuck Brown will move from Secretary to Chair. *Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 PM.

*IDAHO 2008 STATE REPORT: J. Stark, R. Novy, J. Whitworth, M. Thornton, N. Olsen, P. Bain, T Brandt, and M. Chappell. -In 2008, we released three new varieties, including Classic Russet (A95109-1), Alpine Russet (A9305-10) and Clearwater Russet (AOA95154-1). Classic Russet is an early to medium maturing variety with early bulking potential and high yields of oblong-long, medium-russeted tubers having higher protein content than those of standard potato varieties. It produces a very high proportion of U.S. No. 1 tubers, which are very smooth and attractive. It also has moderate specific gravity and resistances to sugar ends, tuber malformations and most internal and external defects. Classic Russet has excellent culinary qualities that are comparable to Russet Burbank. It shows good potential for early processing and fresh markets, with the fresh industry viewing Classic Russet as a potential replacement for Russet Norkotah. Classic Russet has moderate resistance to common scab and dry rot. It is considered susceptible to PVYo, but it is symptomatic in its expression of infection. Classic Russet has a dormancy length of about 155 days at 42°F, 130 days at 45°F, and 100 days at 48°F. Alpine Russet is a high yielding, medium to late maturing cultivar with oblong tubers, light russet skin and excellent processing quality following long-term storage. It has moderately high specific gravity, good resistance to sugar ends, and produces significantly lighter colored fries than either Ranger Russet or Russet Burbank out of 45oF storage. Alpine Russet has exhibited lower susceptibility to growth cracks and secondary growth than Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank, particularly under high stress conditions. Its susceptibility to blackspot bruise is similar to Russet Burbank but less than Ranger Russet and it is very resistant to hollow heart. Alpine Russet is notable for tuber dormancy similar to that of Russet Burbank, making it an excellent candidate for long-term storage, with processing characteristics superior to that of Russet Burbank. It has a dormancy length of about 185 days at 42°F, 165 days at 45°F, and 140 days at 48°F. Alpine Russet is significantly more resistant to Verticillium wilt than Russet Burbank and has similar resistance to common scab. It has similar susceptibility to foliar and tuber early blight, foliar late blight, dry and soft rots. However, it is slightly less susceptible to tuber late blight infections and PLRV net necrosis. Clearwater Russet is a moderately high yielding, medium-late maturing variety, with oblong-long tubers and an attractive medium-russet skin. Tubers of Clearwater Russet exhibit excellent fry color out of storage which, coupled with their attractive appearance, make this variety suitable for both processing and fresh market usage. It has high specific gravity and is resistant to sugar ends as well as most internal and external tuber defects. Clearwater Russet is notable for having a protein content that is higher than those of most standard potato varieties. It is moderately resistant to Verticillium wilt, common scab and PVYo, and is resistant to tuber late blight infections, but is susceptible to Fusarium dry rot. The dormancy of Clearwater Russet is relatively short, however, about 60 days shorter than Russet Burbank. -Progress has continued in identifying corky ringspot resistant germplasm that also has desirable yield, quality and tuber appearance characteristics with further evaluations of breeding material in a corky ringspot infected field north of Rexburg, Idaho on the Egin bench. In addition, the breeding program is progressing in the development of germplasm with genetic resistance to PVY, PVX, and PLRV, late blight (foliar and tuber), pink rot, leak, nematodes, and wireworm. Research was continued this year to evaluate the resistance of the advanced Tri-State selections to powdery scab and black dot. Two new field trials also were established in 2008 at Aberdeen and Parma, Idaho to facilitate the identification of specialty varieties suitable for the western and eastern growing regions of Idaho. -Nine management studies were conducted in 2008 to help define management recommendations for new varieties, specifically with respect to nitrogen, and phosphorus fertilization, plant spacing, irrigation and water stress responses, and herbicide tolerances. Summaries of these research studies are available on the PVMI website www.pvmi.org and on the UI Potato Center Website www.ag.uidaho.edu/potato/. Cultural management bulletins were also published for Blazer Russet and Western Russet and a storage management bulletin was published for Western Russet. *OREGON 2008 STATE REPORT: M.I. Vales, S. Yilma, D. Hane, C. Shock, E. Feibert, S. James, B. Charlton and D. Culp. -The Oregon State University Potato Variety Development Program conducts a comprehensive breeding program including: identification and evaluation of parental clones, crossing, multi-year and multi-environment selections and testing (yield, quality, biotic and abiotic stresses), cultivar releases, Plant Variety Protection (PVP), and generation of Foundation Seed (pre-nuclear minitubers and in vitro plantlets). The project combines molecular and conventional breeding efforts to develop new potato varieties with high quality, yield, and resistance to major pests, diseases and environmental stresses. When possible, multi-trait recurrent selection procedures are used. The development of high yield and high quality potato varieties with resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses allows producing potatoes under more cost-effective, environmental friendly and healthier conditions by using fewer inputs of chemical fertilizers, fungicides, insecticides and water and at the same time increasing the nutritional value and quality of the crop. The diversity of Oregon' five testing sites enhances overall evaluations. -The russet clone AO96305-3 will advance to Western Regional trials. AO96365-2 will tentatively advance to Western Regional trials, pending 2008 Tri-State review. The russet entry AO02183-2 will enter into Tri-State trials in 2009. AO00057-2 will remain in Tri-State trials. Detailed Performance data for all 2008 Tri-State and Western Regional variety trials will be posted on http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/docs.htm?docid=3019. -In relation to color-flesh/specialty materials, the following selections will remain in the Western Regional trials: POR01PG45-5, PA96RR1-193, POR03PG23-1, OR00068-11, POR02PG37-2. A new clone will enter the Western Regional Specialty trials are: OR04036-5, POR03PG80-2. -AO96141-3 graduates this year from the Western Regional trials. This clone has potential for processing and fresh market use. The yellow fleshed clone, POR02PG26-5 graduates this year after being in the Western Regional trials for two years. -Variety release manuscripts were published in 2008 for Willamette (AO91812-1) and Premier Russet (A93157-6LS) in the 'American Journal of Potato Research'. -Specific accomplishments at each Oregon cooperating site: Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center (COARC), Powell Butte: Produced and stored seed of 651 selections at Powell Butte for Oregon, Tri-State, regional, chip, specialty, and other trials to be conducted in 2009; Packaged (5, 10, 25 and 50 lb sacks) and shipped 45,286 lb of seed to 23 research and 14 industry cooperators in 12 states; Produced about 4,000 seedling tubers from transplants in the greenhouse with resistance to nematodes, PVY, black dot, powdery scab and late blight; Pre-selected, planted, harvested, and evaluated 53,562 single-hill seedling tubers and selected 466 for further evaluation; Evaluated 94 advanced selections in replicated statewide yield trials, and 381 selections in two preliminary non-replicated screening trials; Summarized and published all variety trial information from 5 Oregon sites and 1 Washington site (pdf files of the reports available at website listed below); Maintained a web site featuring a potato variety database that generates dynamic reports (http://potatovariety.oregonstate.edu/). Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HAREC): Evaluated Tri-State and western regional cultivars for fresh market, processing and specialty use characteristics adaptable to the lower Columbia Basin; Evaluated yield and quality characteristic for preliminary and advanced Oregon selections for processing and specialty uses; Grew out 300+ Oregon selections and 14 USDA-ARS Aberdeen selections for visual re-selection, with 43 and 5 cultivars being selected, respectively; Evaluated 34 USDA-ARS cultivars and 62 regional and Tri-State entries for early die resistance, PVY resistance and PLRV resistance; Evaluated Tri-State cultivars for field resistance to tuber worm; Evaluated 7 preliminary cultivars from the USDA/ARS Aberdeen program; Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center (KBREC: Evaluated 35 advanced Tri-State and Western Regional cultivars for fresh market, processing, and specialty use characteristics adaptable to the Klamath Basin; Evaluated 128 preliminary and advanced Oregon cultivars for fresh market, processing, and specialty use characteristics adaptable to the Klamath Basin; Screened 37 4-hill selections from 2007 single-hill specialty clones grown in Klamath County; Evaluated 6 advanced Tri-State cultivars for response to various seed spacing densities; Pre-selected, planted, harvested, and evaluated 24,435 single-hill seedling tubers and selected 431 for further evaluation; Summarized and published all red-skinned and specialty-type variety trial information from all participating regional cooperators. Evaluated 13 Tri-State cultivars for resistance to CRS and root-knot nematode infection. Evaluation of chipping varieties and selections - See Klamath Basin Research and & Extension Potato Program progress report. Malheur Experiment Station (MES), Ontario: Evaluated Oregon and Western Region Russet cultivars, and specialty selections in the Oregon and Western Region programs. Determined tuber fry color, sugar ends, specific gravity, and other quality parameters for all of the Oregon Statewide and Western Region Russet cultivars. Selected potatoes for consumer tests. Evaluated the effects of irrigation systems on soil temperature, and their effects on tuber quality. Crop and Soil Science (CSS) Dept. Headquarters, Corvallis: Made more than 270 successful crosses between promising long russets, chippers, reds and specialties clones and parental clones with known resistance to tuber worm, PVY, PLRV, late blight, corky ring spot, and nematodes; Produced more than 50,000 seedling tubers from TPS in Corvallis greenhouses for Oregon single-hill screening for 2009 planting. In addition, 40,000 B and C size seedling tubers will be sent to Texas A&M University and the University of Minnesota for 2009 planting; Evaluated agronomic and quality traits of 89 potato advanced clones (including russets, chippers, reds and specialty types) in replicated State-wide, Tri-State and Western Regional trials in Corvallis; Evaluated foliar and tuber late blight resistance of 820 potato clones in artificially inoculated trials in Corvallis. Six hundred ninety-nine early generation selections were evaluated in 12- and 4-hills plots. Seventy-eight advanced breeding selections and named varieties and 43 varieties from the National Late Blight Evaluation Program were evaluated in replicated trials; Cleaned new potato clones, maintained 72 potato accessions in the disease-free clone bank and produced ~750 lbs of certified disease-free pre-nuclear minitubers; Performed molecular marker evaluations for PVY resistance on 71 single hills clones selected in 2008, on 80 parental lines used in our crossing block in 2008 and on 54 Tri-State varieties and advanced clones; A graduate student, Jose Ortega is working for his Master degree on PVY resistant derived from Premier Russet (A93157-6LS); DNA fingerprinting of 54 varieties & advanced clones from the North West breeding Program were conducted for variety identification & for PVP; Prepared PVP and release documents for new released varieties. -Personnel Changes: Dan Hane (Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, HAREC) retired in January of 2009 and will continue working part-time for at least one year.; Steve James (Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center, COARC) will retire in July 2009 and will also continue working part-time for a while. Dan' and Steve's positions are very important for the Oregon Potato Variety Development Program. There are good chances of refilling Steve's position, but Dan Hane's position is on hold until there is more information about State and Federal budgets and their effect.; Eda Karaagac (Postdoctoral Research Associate) at Crop and Soil Science (CSS) Dept. Headquarters in Corvallis started working in March 2008. Eda's main responsibilities include DNA fingerprinting and marker assisted selection (MAS). *2008 WA State Tri-State/Regional Report: 2008 RESEARCH TRIALS CONDUCTED WITHIN THIS PROJECT: Trial / Harvest Timing / Location / Type or Purpose Early Tri State / Early / Othello / Variety Late Tri State / Late / Othello / Variety Early Regional / Early / Othello / Variety Late Regional / Late / Othello / Variety Regional Red&Spec / Early / Othello / Variety Premier R. N Fert / Late / Othello / Identify profit maxing in-season N rates Alturas N Fert / Late / Othello / Identify profit maxing in-season N rates Ranger N Timing / Late / Othello / Identify profit maxing N in-season app. timing Premier N Timing / Late / Othello / Identify profit maxing N in-season app. timing Umatilla N Timing / Late / Othello / Identify profit maxing N in-season app. timing AO96141-1 N Timing / Early / Othello / Identify profit maxing N in-season app. timing Blazer R. N Timing / Early / Othello / Identify profit maxing N in-season app. timing Water Use Trial / Late / Othello / Identify water efficient varieties (7 var) 10-Hill Selection / Late / Othello / Selection of new varieties in Othello 2008 ACCOMPLISHMENTS: -The Washington State Variety Development Group successfully planted, grew, harvested, and analyzed fourteen research trials (five variety trials and nine cultural management trials). -The Tri-State program released three new potato cultivars Classic Russet (A95109-1), Alpine Russet (A9305-10), and Clearwater Russet (AOA95154-1). -We completed the second year or a three year study examining in-season nitrogen rates for two new cultivars. By applying five different rates of in-season nitrogen to Alturas and Premier Russet, we are narrowing down nitrogen rate recommendations for both varieties that will not only maximize in-field profits but post-harvest quality to optimize processing value. Along with Dr. N.R. Knowles and team, we are examining the effects of the nitrogen rates on whole plant morphology and physiology. We have learned that in-season N effects not only yield and economic value, but also tuber quality and processing quality. From this and the other N studies, we are learning ways to tweak yield, econ value, tuber quality, and processing quality -Along with Dr. N.R. Knowles and team, we have established a series of nitrogen application timing studies to determine the effects of in-season N timing on whole plant morphology and physiology and economic value from several late harvest varieties. Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet, and Premier Russet were grown under the different N application regimes during 2008 but results did not indicate very many differences among the treatments. Results may have been non-typical as the year was cooler than normal. We plan to continue this study for two more years. -Similar to the study above (No. 4), two varieties (AO96141-3 and Blazer Russet) were grown under four different in-season application/rate schemes in an effort to establish recommendations for an early harvested crop. The results from 2008 were again inconclusive and we hope to continue this study for another two years to better understand the best ways to grow these and other cultivars for an early harvest. -We initiated a pilot study during 2008 to examine seven varieties for water use efficiency. Umatilla, RB, Premier, Alturas, Ranger, AO96141-3, and A95109-1 were irrigated under the same regime and soil samples were collected to determine if any of the varieties were using less or more water. The results were inconclusive suggesting that the varieties were quite similar or that the sampling and measuring methods were not precise enough. -We continue to work diligently with OSU, UI, PVMI and the three commissions to release quality varieties with the hopes that the PVMI organization will help return dollars to the research programs, with the ultimate goal of the whole operation being self-sufficient. *2008 TEXAS PROGRESS REPORT -70,811 first year seedlings, resulting from 638 different parental combination or families (crosses), were grown for selection on the Barrett Farm (33,921) near Springlake and on the CSS Farm (36,890) near Dalhart, 294 original selections were made -37 clones were intercrossed to produce 57 families with emphasis on color flesh -We received seedlings tubers from the USDA/ARS Idaho (8,061), Oregon (7,833), Colorado (20,106), and North Dakota (18,027) breeding programs. Colorado also provided 2,200 mini tubers from advanced Texas selections for seed increase -We grew 14,584 tuberlings in the greenhouse from true seed -Evaluation trials were conducted at Springlake (Spring - March 31 planting, July 22, 24, 30 and August 19 harvests), and Dalhart (Fall - May 13 planting, September 15 and 29 harvests) 634 advanced selections/new cultivars were tested in 35 separate trials -Western Regional Trials were conducted at both Springlake (Russet and Red/Specialty) and Dalhart (Chip) -The Texas Program had three entries in the Western Regional Russet Trial (AOTX95265-2ARu, AOTX95265-3Ru, and AOTX95265-4Ru), and two in the Western Regional Red/ Specialty Trial (ATTX961014-1R/Y and ATTX98500-2P/Y) -The Texas program entered 24 selections (ATTX98500-3PW/Y, ATTX00289-6Y/Y, TX1673-1Y/Y, TXYG055, TXYG057, TXYG079, TXYG098, TXYG105, TXYG107, AOTX96216-2Ru, AOTX96265-2Ru, AOTX98152-3Ru, ATX9202-3Ru, ATX97147-4Ru, ATX99013-1Ru, AOTX91861-4R, AOTX93483-1R, ATTX98453-6R, BTX2332-1R, COTX94216-1R, COTX94218-1R, NDTX4784-7R, NDTX4828-2R, and NDTX5003-2R) in the Southwestern Regional Trials -Field day was held on July 17 at Springlake and was well attended -Continued expanded emphasis on evaluating chip selections as well as colored flesh selections -Work continued on screening for and identifying important phytochemicals in potato and its wild relatives including evaluating these compounds for anti-cancerous properties in human prostate cancer cells and the publication of results of this work -PVP has been approved for TX1523-1Ru/Y (Sierra Goldä) and is pending for Stampede Russet and Rio Rojo, ATTX961014-1R/Y will be released in 2009 -Emphasis on virus testing, clean-up, and minituber multiplication of selected clones continued -A major program addressing Zebra Chip was continued with 385 samples representing more than 13,000 individual tubers evaluated for ZC expression *2008 California State Report Project Leaders: Harry L. Carlson, Center Director/Farm Advisor; Donald Kirby, Superintendent; Brooke Kliewer & Corey Thompson, Staff Research Associates. University of California Intermountain Research & Extension Center, 2816 Havlina Rd. Tulelake, Ca. 96134 Phone 530/667-2719 Fax 530/667-5265 Email:hlcarlson@ucdavis.edu -Potato Variety Development: In 2008 the Intermountain Research & Extension Center (IREC) conducted three potato variety trials on the station grounds. The Western Regional and Southwest Regional Trials were combined into each of the following trials, a Russet Trial with 24 varieties, a Red/Specialty Trial with 48 varieties, and a Chipper Trial with 20 varieties. The experimental varieties were obtained from University and USDA potato breeders in Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, and Texas. Each trial was planted in a randomized complete block design with all entries replicated into four yield plots. The Red/Specialty and Chipper Trials were planted with 48 seed pieces in each plot and the Russet Trial was planted with 44 seed pieces in each plot. The seed pieces were planted with a custom built two row potato planter into plots with two 36' wide raised beds. A total of 368 plots were harvested at maturity for tuber yield and graded for size, internal, and external qualities. The planting dates, harvest dates, and seed spacing for each trial are listed below. Trial / Planting Date / Harvest Date / Seed Spacing (Inches) Russet Trial / 5-09-08 / 10-08-08 / 10.0" Specialty Trial / 5-09-08 / 10-06-08 / 9.0" Chip Trial / 5-13-08 / 10-07-08 / 9.0" Each of the trials were managed using common commercial practices for irrigations and fertilizer applications, adjusted as appropriate for the different market classes. The seasonal weather was generally favorable for potato growth. -Results Russet Trial: This year the experimental variety, AC99375-1RU, far out yielded all other varieties in total U.S. No. 1's with 523 cwt/A. This variety also performed well in tuber characteristics with a good appearance, no hollow heart, and was the highest in specific gravity. Another standout variety was ATX9202-3RU which had a U.S. No. 1's yield of 486 cwt/A. This variety has a darker russet skin, medium set eye, excellent appearance and showed no hollow heart here at IREC. A93157-6LS, also known as Premier Russet, excelled in our trial again as it has done for the last several years. This variety may become a standard variety grown in the Klamath Basin. 543 cwt/A was the overall yield for this variety and it did well in each of the tuber characteristic categories except for hollow heart. IREC has included this variety in it's trials for six years and this was the first year hollow heart has been an issue (40% in 8-12oz tubers). In a separate management trial, adjusting plant spaclowing, fertilizer rates and irrigation frequency had little impact on reducing hollow heart in the Premier Russet variety. There was one light russeted variety, A97066-42LB, which yielded very well with 474 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's. This variety had no hollow heart and did well in specific gravity but was average in appearance. Each of the above varieties yielded better than the standard varieties of Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank, and Russet Norkotah. See Tables 1 and 2. Red/Specialty Trial: The Red/Specialty Trial planted this year was our largest variety trial planted yet with an astounding 48 varieties. Only 13 experimental varieties from 2007 were repeated. There were 18 red skinned and white fleshed varieties, 2 with red skin and yellow flesh, 2 with red skin and red flesh, 11 with white skin and yellow flesh, 3 with purple skin and purple flesh, and 12 varieties with several different combinations of skin and flesh colors. See Table 3. Starting with the largest category of red skin and white flesh varieties, AOTX93483-1R led the pack with an impressive overall yield of 735 cwt/A and yielded 702 cwt/A of total U.S. No. 1's. This variety is a medium tone of red skin, medium eye depth, and has an average appearance. A large percentage of the yield came from the greater than 10 ounce size category. This variety may need to be planted on a tighter spacing and/or harvested earlier in the season to avoid excessive tuber size. Next in line were NDTX4784-7R and AOTX91861-4R with total overall yields of 593 cwt/A and 585 cwt/A respectively. Both varieties were similar in the tuber characteristics having a round shape, medium set eyes, and low specific gravity. Each of these three varieties yielded and evaluated better than the standard Dark Red Norland and Red LaSoda varieties. Of the other red skinned varieties, CO97222-1R/R, which is a red fleshed tuber, yielded 400 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's but had an unattractive tuber. A yellow fleshed variety, CO00379-2R/Y, had a yield of 380 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's and had an excellent appearance. Both of these varieties are round in shape with a medium eye depth. Next, ATC00293-1W/Y, in the white skin and yellow flesh category, had a total yield of 594 cwt/A with the greater percent of tubers being in the 6-10 ounce category. This variety is an attractive tuber, oblong in shape and has a slightly deep eye. Four other varieties yielded better than the standard Yukon Gold; TXYG107, TX1673-1W/Y, TXYG079, and TXYG057 with similar total U.S. No. 1's of 409, 408, 407, and 406 cwt/A respectively. The more attractive tuber of the four was TXYG079, with deep eyes and an oblong shape. Among the remaining Red/Specialty varieties of purple skin or unique color combinations of skin and flesh, ATTX98500-2P/Y was the high yielding variety for the third year with 514 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's. This is a dark purple skinned tuber with yellow flesh, medium eye depth, round shape and average appearance. AC99329-7PW/Y, a distinctive looking purple and white skinned variety with yellow flesh round shape and shallow eyes, yielded 437 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's. Purple Majesty and CO97227-2P/PW are both dark purple in skin color with similar tuber characteristics and comparable low yields with only 50 percent of the tubers being U.S. No. 1's. CO97227-2P/PW does have the purple and white flesh to distinguish itself, but it also yielded poorly in 2007. See Tables 4 & 5. Chip Trial: This year the standard varieties yielded better in comparison with the experimental varieties planted in the trial, unlike last year. Chipeta ranked first with 508 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's. 9781 came in second with 462 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's, with a majority of tubers in the greater than 10 ounce size category similar to Chipeta. Marci and Ivory Crisp were also towards the top with a larger percent of the tubers being in the 6-10 ounce category and having a yield of 448 cwt/A and 424 cwt/A in total U.S. No. 1's respectively. See Tables 6 & 7. The storage data for the Chip Trial has not been completed but 60 days after harvest (DAH) the following varieties have shown sprout: Atlantic, A93157-6LS, AC00170-2W, CO00197-3W, CO00270-7W, and MSK061-4. Each year tuber samples from every chip variety are sent to a local commercial packing shed to have the tubers fried as chips. Cook samples are taken at harvest and after 60 days storage at 500F. After the chips are cooked they are sent back to IREC and ranked for potato chip color using the Snack Food Association (SFA) Rating of 1-3 with 1 being the best. In this portion of the Chip Trial evaluation, five experimental varieties improved and rated better after 60 DAH while the standard varieties generally declined over time. The variety 3502 stood out in having a high specific gravity and a low percentage of defects. Marci and A9315-6LS had poor SFA ratings and a large percentage of defects. See Table 8. Storage: Two replications from each variety in all three trials are stored in a controlled environment for assessment of dormancy and storability. The Russet and Red/Specialty varieties will be stored for 180 days after harvest at 400F each. The Chip varieties will be stored for 120 days after harvest at 500F. Sprout inhibitor is not applied to the varieties during any time of the storage duration. The results of the storage evaluation will be reported separately upon completion of the storage period. * Colorado 2008 State Report: The major objectives of the Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program are: (1) to develop new potato cultivars (russets, reds, chippers, and specialties) with increased yield, improved quality, improved nutritional characteristics, resistance to diseases and pests, and tolerance to environmental stresses; (2) to collaborate with growers, shippers, processors, and research personnel to assess the production, adaptability, marketability, and other characteristics of advanced selections from the Colorado program; (3) to provide a basic seed source of selections to growers for seed increase and commercial testing; (4) to evaluate promising selections for potential seed export (interstate and international). The Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program emphasizes the development of russet, red, specialty, and chipping cultivars. The level of emphasize placed on each market class is dependent on the priorities of the Colorado potato industry and recognizes the diverse markets accessed by potato growers throughout Colorado. In addition to the major objectives outlined previously, specific breeding emphasis is being placed on identifying germplasm and developing cultivars that have: (1) early vine maturity and early tuber bulking; (2) immunity to PVY; resistant to (3) late blight (foliar and tuber); (4) storage rots [dry rot (Fusarium and early blight) and bacterial soft rot]; (5) pink rot; (6) nematodes; (7) powdery scab; and (8) that have improved nutritional quality, health attributes, and other 'consumer' characteristics such as improved red skin color retention and improved shelf life. Continued emphasis will be placed on breeding/selecting for 'low input' cultivars, primarily for reduced nitrogen and fungicide input, for improved postharvest and processing qualities such as lengthened dormancy and ability to process after cold storage. Breeding and Selection Program. The Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program intercrossed 105 parental clones in 2008 in two separate crossing blocks. The emphasis of the first crossing block was russet and specialty cultivar development, PVY immunity, and nematode resistance. The second emphasized russet and specialty, PVY immunity, late blight resistance, and nematode resistance. Seed from 390 combinations was obtained. Approximately 52,996 seedling tubers representing 246 families were produced from 2007 crosses for initial field selection in 2009. These seedlings represent crosses segregating primarily for russet, reds, specialty types, and disease resistance/immunity (late blight and PVY). Second through fourth size seedling tubers will be distributed to Idaho (USDA-ARS), Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Alberta, Canada (Agriculture Canada). Colorado grew 81,075 first-year seedlings in 2008, with 969 selected for subsequent planting, evaluation, and increase in future years. A portion of these seedlings were obtained from the USDA-ARS-Idaho, Agriculture Canada, North Dakota State University, Texas A&M University, and Oregon State University. Another 879 clones were in 12-hill, preliminary, and intermediate stages of selection. At harvest, 273 were saved for further observation. Forty-seven advanced selections were saved and will be increased in 2009 pending further evaluation. Another 289 selections and cultivars were maintained for germplasm development, breeding, and other experimental purposes including seed increase/maintenance. Field trials conducted in 2008 included: Preliminary Trial, Intermediate Yield Trial, Advanced Yield Trial, Southwestern Regional Trial, Western Regional Russet/Processing Trial, Western Regional Red Trial, Western Regional Specialty Trial, San Luis Valley Chipping Study, and Western Regional Chipping Trial. All trials are grown under 'low input' conditions, primarily for reduced nitrogen and fungicide. A total of 187 samples are in the process of being evaluated for two or more of the following postharvest characteristics: blackspot susceptibility, storage weight loss, dormancy, enzymatic browning, specific gravity, french fry color, french fry texture, and chip color. Advanced selections evaluated in the Southwest Regional Trials, Western Regional Trials, or by producers in 2008, included 11 russets (AC96052-1RU, AC99375-1RU, CO94035-15RU, CO95086-8RU, CO95172-3RU, CO97087-2RU, CO98067-7RU, CO98368-2RU, CO99053-3RU, CO99053-4RU, and CO99100-1RU), 5 reds (CO98012-5R, CO99076-6R, CO99256-2R, CO00277-2R, and CO00291-5R), 8 chippers (CO95051-7W, CO96141-4W, CO97043-14W, CO97065-7W, AC00170-2W, CO00188-4W, CO00197-3W, and CO00270-7W), and 19 specialties (AC97521-1R/Y, AC99329-7PW/Y, AC99330-1P/Y, ATC00293 -1W/Y, CO97215-2P/P, CO97222-1R/R, CO97226-2R/R, CO97227-2P/PW, CO97232-1R/Y, CO97232-2R/Y, CO97233-3R/Y, CO99045-1W/Y, CO99338-3RU/Y, CO00379-2R/Y, CO00405-1R, CO00412-5W/Y, CO00415-1R, VC1002-3W/Y, and VC1009-1W/Y). A decision to release selection CO94035-15RU was made. CO94035-15RU is a medium maturing, high yielding russet with a high percentage of US No.1 tubers. It is resistant to blackspot bruise, powdery scab root galling, and has shown the potential to fry after storage. PVP is pending for Colorado Rose, Rio Grande Russet, Mountain Rose, Purple Majesty, Canela Russet, and Rio Colorado. Table 1 compares the Colorado certified seed acreage (G1-G6 and Experimental) for recent releases undergoing grower evaluation/commercialization in 2003-2008. Table 1: (See Attachment under Summary of Minutes)

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