A Brief History of this Handbook and Use of the Information
The current publication, Commercial Potato Production in North America was originally
published in July 1964 by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Agriculture Handbook No.
267, with the title, Commercial Potato Production, authored by August E. Kehr, Robert V. Akeley
and Geoffrey V. C. Houghland. It was for sale from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office for 60 cents.
The current publication, Commercial Potato Production in North America was originally
published in July 1964 by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Agriculture Handbook No.
267, with the title, Commercial Potato Production, authored by August E. Kehr, Robert V. Akeley
and Geoffrey V. C. Houghland. It was for sale from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office for 60 cents.
The handbook was out of print in the late 1970's. The Extension Committee of The Potato
Association of America (PAA) identified the need for the publication and for some revision. The
USDA did not have plans to revise and reprint it and gave permission to The Potato Association
of America to do so.
During the mid 1970’s, Robert Thornton, Washington State University (retired), oversaw
the editing and rewriting by North American potato specialists of the original publication for a
revised handbook. In 1979, while on sabbatical leave at WSU, Joseph Sieczka, Cornell University
(retired) assisted in the editing of the sections in the handbook so they had similar format. The
first revision of Commercial Potato Production originally published by USDA was completed by
The PAA and published in 1980 with Robert E. Thornton and Joseph B. Sieczka as co‐editors.
There were 16 authors including the two editors of the 1980 version of the publication that was
titled, Commercial Potato Production in North America. The handbook was published as a
supplement to the American Potato Journal (now American Journal of Potato Research) of The
PAA.
The 1980 revision was quickly and widely accepted and was out of print by the end of that
decade. By that time there were many changes in potato production and marketing so some
sections of the publication needed significant changes and new sections needed to be added.
Sieczka and Thornton agreed to again coordinate and edit the next version. In addition to the
original authors of the previous two versions, eight more individuals contributed to the 1992
version (Commercial Potato Production in North America, Potato Association of America
Handbook, Revision of American Potato Journal Supplement, Volume 57 and USDA Handbook
267 by the Extension Section of The Potato Association of America). Editors of the 1992 revision
were listed as Joseph B. Sieczka, Cornell University, and Robert E. Thornton, Washington State
University.
As with the previous versions of this handbook, changes in the potato industry lead to a
need to revise the handbook for a third time beginning in the mid 2000’s. In the current version
of Commercial Potato Production in North America, some sections were extensively revised
while some of the basic sections changed little. The current version has 26 authors who revised,
rewrote or added sections. The task of editing and coordinating the handbook revision was
initially undertaken by William H. Bohl, University of Idaho, Steven B. Johnson, University of
Maine, and Alvin Mosley, Oregon State University. The current version is an on‐line only
publication with Internet links.
The editors of this and previous revisions acknowledge the efforts of individuals who
contributed to the original USDA Handbook 267 and the following revisions.
The information in this handbook is not copyrighted because much of it is from public
sources. However, users are asked to not reprint the material in other forms without citing
from where the information was obtained.
