Solanum tuberosum
Second-generation potato breeder Walter De Jong knows a winning potato when he sees one. Which is why, when he first spotted trial “NY150” among his field plots in 2004, he immediately took note. Walter’s goal at the time was to breed a more resilient potato—high yielding and attractive in the field, and resistant to diseases plaguing potato growers in the Northeast, such as Potato Virus Y (PVY) and late blight.
Walking the rows, Walter was surprised to discover one experimental line that yielded an unexpected bonus: an abundance of golf-ball-sized potatoes with bright white flesh. By conventional market standards at the time, they were a little too small, but Walter and field manager Matt Falise thought that NY150 was something worth pursuing—a suspicion confirmed when they first tasted it.
Over the years, still deemed “unmarketable,” NY150 earned a quiet cult following, first within Walter’s lab, and then beyond. Growers praised its uncommon size (naturally small, even at normal seed spacing), and cooks coveted its exceptionally creamy texture and nutty flavor.
Ready for a national stage, the recently named “Upstate Abundance” remains Walter and Matt’s favorite eating potato. And just recently, Walter learned something new about his beloved potato: its lineage includes a variety developed by Walter’s father, a retired potato breeder himself. How’s that for prized pedigree?
Our Upstate Abundance seed potatoes were produced in NY.