Potatoes are one of America's most consumed foods. Mashed or fried, this vegetable fuels us all. Wisconsin’s state potato breeding program is located at the Rhinelander Agricultural Research Station (RARS).
Recently, the station invited the public to come learn about the research being conducted on its grounds for a field day. Experts at the station came together to give presentations about their work and answer questions.
On a warm, July morning, neat rows of leafy mounds formed a potato field fenced in between pine trees at the Rhinelander Agricultural Research station in Oneida County.
All of these plants are related to research in some way, waiting to see if they will be one of the new successful varieties to head to market.
"The goal is to create a new variety of potato that farmers can grow," said Jeffery Endelman, director of the potato breeding program at the University of Wisconsin.
Starting the process, parents are selected and cross pollinated to produce the plant's fruit. The seeds are then planted, tested as single plants before having their tubers harvested and cut up to begin similar testing.
They'll start with as many as 30,000 varieties each every year.
“I shared today some examples of some new varieties that we're excited about that we think have some improvements over the current varieties, and we're releasing themnow in 2026, and we started that process in 2017,” said Endelman.
Potato breeding, insect and disease management are all part of the main focus of the research station, but it’s also home to other agricultural projects as visitors found during the station’s recent open house.
Guests loaded up into tractors to visit a couple of sites on the grounds. Experts spoke on different projects they're working on at stations like the use of poplar and willow trees to remove contamination from soil, and a study examining how soil and plant interactions can have an effect on PFAS.
During its greenhouse study, it found that alfalfa and hemp were viable, but slow, remediators. But once they got to the field study, they learned they may have to change course.
“I thought maybe we had selected an alfalfa variety that would work up here in this climate. Didn'tpan out so much. So this year we switched to the Eco-Till Radish.”
Another stop took them to a pollinator plot to learn more about the station's efforts to help restore pollinator populations that make food production possible.
Amanda Scheppeley learned about the field day from her job at Hanson’s Garden Village and accompanied a friend who lived close to the research station.
“I actually really was interested about poplars and willows and how the root systems take a lot of the toxins out of the soil, so I definitely wanna dig into that a little bit more because I'm passionate about root systems and so I really think that that's neat,” said Scheppely.
The hope for the field day was to not only allow the public to come in and see the work being done, but to also encourage visits to the research station at any time.
“We are public servants and we take that seriously and so hopefully the public also wants to engage with us and see what the public dollars are doing and, and the value that it's bringing to these communities.”
The RARS field day is one of the various field days that have been taking place at the several research stations in the area.
Maria Peralta-Arellano is a reporter covering water quality and the environment for WXPR and a Report for America corps member. Report for America recruits, places and supports talented journalists in local newsrooms across the United States. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work and Report for America will match it dollar for dollar. Donate here.
