La Belle Russet: an Early Maturing, Dual-Purpose Variety Having a High Percentage of Marketable Yield, Long Tuber Dormancy, and a Reduced Incidence of Sugar Ends

La Belle Russet is an early-maturing, medium-russeted, potato variety, with attractive tubers across environments, suitable for both fresh-pack and processing. In early-harvest trials, La Belle Russet had total and marketable yields comparable to Russet Norkotah. However, unlike Russet Norkotah, La Belle Russet can be processed into French fries following up to 7 months storage at 8.9 C and has a low incidence of sugar ends. La Belle Russet is unusual for an early-maturing variety, in having a long tuber dormancy that is comparable to that of Russet Burbank; a variety which is recognized for having the longest tuber dormancy among North American potato varieties. In full-season trials, total yield of the earlier-maturing La Belle Russet tended to be lower than Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank, however marketable yield was comparable to these industry standards due to a significantly higher percentage of U.S. No. 1 tubers—reflecting its low incidence of tubers having growth cracks and second growth. La Belle Russet has shown significantly lower levels of the amino acid asparagine relative to Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank, which may contribute to lower acrylamide levels in French fries and other processed potato products. La Belle Russet has moderate resistance to common scab ( Streptomyces spp. ) and Fusarium dry rot ( F. solani var. coeruleum ). La Belle Russet was released in 2019 by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and is a product of the Pacific Northwest Potato Variety (Tri-State) Development Program.