EEUU: Digging Into New Potato Varieties in the 2025 Trial Season

So, what’s new under the hill for HZPC? I thought I’d share three varieties I’m excited about.

HZA 13-1486 – This is a beautiful red skin, bright white flesh potato that fits in a unique space. One of the challenges red-white growers have faced, in addition to a retracting market, is there are varieties that work either as creamers or babies, or they work in the A/B category, but rarely do you have the same variety that you can use for both.

We’ve broken that mold with this variety. We can manipulate its size by extending the spacing, making it competitive with a more traditional variety like Red La Soda or a traditional creamer like Ciklamen. Right now, there’s only one source for this seed, EBE Farms in Western Washington, so reach out to them if that’s something you’re interested in.

And don’t get attached to this catchy name – we’re in the process of naming it.

Quintera – If you’ve followed my previous articles, you’ve heard me talk about yellow processing potatoes, and this one is truly gold in that category! It’s been successful globally, and we’re just now bringing it to North America.

This could become a replacement for Challenger or traditional Russet Burbank type varieties. Quinterra is a high-yielding, great processing potato and offers improved efficiency with input requirements.

Libra – This is the one I’m most excited about. Libra is an early yellow potato directly aimed at replacing Colomba. Colomba yields and packs well, but storage is a challenge.

Libra solves that. It takes about five to ten days longer to reach maturity, but it has increased tolerance to heat stress, better dormancy, better yield and an equal pack out. This one is in very limited supply right now, so you’ll have to wait until next season for trial material, but I think it’s worth the wait.