-
Tuber-unit planting
The ground is finally ready for planting at the Rhinelander Research Station. Last week we planted the seed maintenance plots for our most advanced breeding lines. Each plot contains 80 plants (or hills), which is enough to repopulate an 80-hill plot next year and provide seed for production trials at several locations, such as the…
-
Planting
We’re off to a slow start due to heavy rain this spring, but we did manage to get in one day of planting at the Hancock Research Station in April. Here is a photo of us planting a replicated yield trial for fresh market russets. From left to right: Umesh, Grace, Bryan, and Jeff. Each…
-
Tuber internal quality
One of the key traits for a successful potato cultivar is to have a low incidence of internal defects. To score this trait, the breeding program cuts open 30-50 tubers per plot during our initial post-harvest evaluation. The photo below on the left shows the presence of hollow heart defect in a plot of…
-
Grading
It’s harvest time in the potato breeding program. Last week we harvested and graded our breeding trials at the UW Hancock Agricultural Research Station, which is located in the main potato-growing region of Wisconsin (the Central Sands). Traditionally the potatoes have been graded into two size categories. “B” potatoes fall through the holes of a…
-
Rhinelander
Rhinelander is home to two important UW farms for the potato industry. One is the Rhinelander Agricultural Research Station, also known as the Lelah Starks Potato Breeding Farm, which is where the early generations of the potato breeding program are grown and evaluated. The other key farm is the Lelah Starks Elite Foundation Seed Potato…
-
Press release
Check out the press release about Dr. Endelman’s new faculty position.