The 57th annual Idaho Potato Conference, which will take place at the University of Idaho from January 22–23, will provide the most recent information and research impacting local farmers and other potato industry participants.

The Pond Student Union Building, situated at 921 S. Eighth Ave. on the Idaho State University campus in Pocatello, will host the 2025 conference, which is expected to draw between 600 and 900 attendees.

More than 70 booths and exhibits showcasing agricultural goods and services will be part of an adjacent trade exhibition, and some of the more specialized seminars will provide Certified Crop Adviser credits and pesticide re-certification.

The conference registration is now accessible. On-site registration is available, and the price is USD 40 per person before midnight on January 15 and USD 50 per person after the early deadline.

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

The conference will have concurrent sessions organized into four distinct rooms based on themes: general Potatoes 101, technical elements of potato farming, research, and Spanish language sessions. Other sessions will last 50 minutes, while research talks will last 25 minutes each.

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 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 to explore 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. Once it gets into the soil, there are no decent control options, except for keeping it out,” Woodhall added.

Duellman will present another topic that’s gaining interest in 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.

“This has got to be one of the biggest U of I events. We’re offering a lot more choices than other conferences do, as well as three concurrent sessions plus Spanish-language sessions,” Woodhall concluded.