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manager Brian Carter. He and D&S Farms partner Dave Souza like to visit the trial during harvest to talk with La Bonte and Stoddard about the experimental lines. Carter noted La Bonte has been “very good coming out with new varieties that are better looking and better yielding, and we definitely support him.” But varietal development isn’t the in- dustry’s only research focus. Total sweet potato production costs run more than $12,500 per acre, with labor remaining the largest portion, Stoddard said. That’s because human hands touch the crop from hot bed production of slips, or plant cut- tings, to harvest and packing. “Labor is a major issue for the sweet potato industry in the U.S., so we need to figure out a better harvest system,” he said. In response, Mississippi State Universi- ty, along with several other universities in sweet potato-producing states, has sub- mitted a U.S. Department of Agriculture specialty crop research initiative proposal to develop an improved harvester. Currently, a crew of about 10 people and one harvester can cover only about 1 acre per day. Stoddard, who is part of the pro- posal, said increasing harvest to 2 acres per day would be a 100% efficiency improve- ment and could cut per-bin harvest costs in half. Vicky Boyd is a reporter in Modesto. She can be reached at agalert@cfbf.com.
expansion beyond traditional Asian mar- kets into more mainstream grocery stores in some parts of the country. Because California doesn’t have its own breeding program, Stoddard works closely with LSU AgCenter sweet potato breeder Don La Bonte. Based at the university’s Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase, Louisiana, La Bonte said his main goals are developing new varieties that benefit his state’s producers. From about 30,000 seed-grown lines at the beginning of each season, he whittles them down to 300 at the end of the first year. It may take six to seven more years of selecting and trialing at the research station and in farmers’ fields before La Bonte has a high-yielding, attractive, tasty and pest-tolerant variety he feels comfortable releasing. As part of screening potential candi- dates, he sends about 30 advanced lines to Stoddard annually to trial under California conditions. The LSU breeder also travels to California during fall harvest to evaluate trial entries alongside Stoddard and visit with local producers about what they want in new releases. “We’re looking for varieties that have sta- bility and flexibility and are able to grow in different types of soil,” La Bonte said. “We’re looking for more universal produc- tion material with durability and the power
A commercial sweet potato harvester and crew dig experimental sweet potato varieties near Atwater to determine whether one might be a candidate for eventual commercial production.
to overcome all of the things that nature can throw at it.” One of the LSU lines that has caught Stoddard’s attention for the past several years is LA 14-11, as it is known experimen- tally. With maroon skin and orange flesh, he said he sees it as a possible replacement for the long-standing variety Diane. While popular with growers because of its high yields, Diane has a fairly short storage life, he said. La Bonte released Vermilion, a
red-skinned, orange-fleshed variety, in 2021, and Stoddard saw it as a potential Diane replacement because of its longer storage potential. Some California farmers have dialed in production techniques to successfully grow the new variety, but he said others haven’t been as fortunate. As part of their efforts to support the industry, sweet potato grower-packer D&S Farms in Atwater has hosted an LSU variety trial for several years, said farm
November 4, 2026 Ag Alert 7
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