b'2020 Hoople Chip Processing Trial Summary by Dr. Asunta Susie Thompson, NDSU Potato BreederPotato is a notable specialty crop in entries,14advanc-NorthDakota(ND),Minnesota ing selections and 7(MN)andtheNorthernPlains. industrychippro-Roughly, 12% of potatoes produced cessingstandards.in ND and MN are for chip process- The trial was planteding.TheNDSUpotatobreeding onMay16,2020project works to breed and develop usinganassist-feedimprovedcoldchippingcultivars planter,vinekilledwith high yield potential, resistanc- onAugust27,andes to biotic and abiotic stressors, and harvestedonSep-withexceptionalqualityattributes tember10usingaadapted to our growing region; suc- single-rowGrimmecessesinbreedingprogramhistory harvester.Plots werehaveincludedNorchip,NorValley, 20feetlong,withaandDakotaPearl.Emphasisis 12-inchwith-inrow Panorama of chips from Hoople Chip Processing Trialplacedonincorporationofresist- spacing, and 38 inch- (zero time = post harvest chip and prior to storage).ance to diseases and pests, such as es between rows; theColorado potato beetle, late blight, field design was a randomized com- medium-large for ND13219C-3, andsilverscurf,pinkrotandPythium pleteblockdesignwithfourrepli- differedsignificantlyforthegeno-leak, and to abiotic stresses includ- cates.Cultivar specific management types.The mean vine maturity wasing cold sweetening resistance.The practicestypicalofnon-irrigated 2.6 (scale of 1-5 with 1 being earlychip processing evaluation trials are chip processing production fields in and5verylate);earlymaturinggrown near Hoople, ND, and the site the northern Red River Valley were genotypes with high yield potentialis hosted by Lloyd, Steve, and Jamie utilized.Thegrowingseasonwas areimportantinourproductionOberg; we are very grateful for their dryasintheprevioustwoyears. region due to our short growing sea-collaboration,potatopassion,and Days to vine kill were 103 and days son.Vine maturity differed signifi-supportofNDSUpotatoresearch. to harvest were 1,117.Agronomic cantly, ranging from 1.5 (early) forThe 2020 Chip Processing Trial, the characteristicsaresummarizedin ND1450CAB-3 to 4.0 (medium late)PreliminaryChipTrial,andthe Table 1, yield and grade in Table 2, for Dakota Crisp.NationalChipProcessingTrial andchipprocessingqualityattrib-(NCPT)wereincludedatthesite. utes are summarized in Table 3. Yieldswerelowerthanthelong-Dr.DarrinHaagensons(USDA-ARS termaverageforthisproductionPotatoWorksite,EastGrandForks, Standandstemnumberswerenot area, primarily attributed to droughtMN)andDr.AndyRobinsons determinedin2020duetocovid conditionsandanabundanceof(NDSU/UMNExtensionPotato related travel limitations.As I took cautionduetoearlyextremecoldSpecialist)researchprogramsalso other data, I noted if any plots had and snow the previous years; yieldhad trials in the same field. reduced stands and all were 90% or and grade is summarized in Table 2.higher.Table 1).Vine sized ranged EntrantsvariedsignificantlyforTheChipProcessingTrialhad21 from medium-small for Dakota Pearl totalyield,witharangeof17912 POTATO GROWER MAY/JUNE 2021'