AgricultureID

Cultivar · Potato cultivar

Kennebec

Kennebec is a white-fleshed American maincrop potato released by the USDA in 1948, a widely adapted, general-purpose variety used for the table and for processing.

Dated referenceLast reviewed: 2026-07-12Updated: 2026-07-12
Illustrative diagram · AgricultureID (original)

Record

Cultivar / variety
Variety of
Potato
Botanical taxon
Solanum tuberosum
Type
Cultivar
Breeding method
Cross-breeding
Origin
United States (USDA potato-breeding programme), United States
Released
1948
Breeder / institution
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Registry status
Historical · as of 2026-07-12
Registries
Adaptation
A temperate maincrop grown as a cool-season crop like potato generally; sensitive to frost and to heat during tuber bulking. Grown on the loose, well-drained soils preferred by potato generally; no unusual soil requirement is documented here.
Intended use
Table, Chips / French fries, Processing

Registry listing or variety protection is jurisdiction- and date-specific and does not by itself indicate current commercial availability, universal cultivation approval, patent status, or a recommendation.

Kennebec is a maincrop potato developed by the United States Department of Agriculture and released in 1948. It takes its name from the Kennebec River region of Maine. The variety became widely grown in North America as a dependable, general-purpose potato.

The tubers have smooth buff skin with shallow eyes and white flesh, with a general-purpose cooking character. Kennebec is used both fresh and for processing, including chips and fries.

Background and identity

Kennebec was produced by cross-breeding in the USDA potato programme and released in 1948. Its wide adaptation and general-purpose quality made it a long-standing commercial and garden variety in North America.

Flesh colour
White
Skin
Smooth buff with shallow eyes
Cooking character
General-purpose; used fresh and for processing

Cultivation and use

As a maincrop it is grown as a cool-season crop like potato generally and is lifted after the haulm has died down. It is used both as a table potato and for processing into chips and fries. Cooking performance and agronomic behaviour vary with region, season, and storage.

Official variety registration

Entries recorded for this denomination in official variety registers. Registration is a legal fact about marketing or ownership, separate from where the variety is grown or whether seed is available.

Current entries (6)
RegisterStatusSpecies as publishedRegister reference
CanadaVariety registrationPermission to marketNational RegistrationPotatoPotato (Tuber) — the register publishes a crop kind, not a botanical name563
FranceNational list entry — agricultural speciesPermission to marketRegisteredSolanum tuberosum L.NLI/AGR/FR/SOLAN_TUB/247418
LuxembourgNational list entry — agricultural speciesPermission to marketRegisteredSolanum tuberosum L.NLI/AGR/LU/SOLAN_TUB/LU_AGR_109.0_100033
NetherlandsNational list entry — agricultural speciesPermission to marketRegisteredSolanum tuberosum L.NLI/AGR/NL/SOLAN_TUB/247418
SpainNational list entry — agricultural speciesPermission to marketRegisteredSolanum tuberosum L.NLI/AGR/ES/SOLAN_TUB/247418
United KingdomNational list entryPermission to marketAwarded GB and NI variety listingsSOLANUM TUBEROSUM L.4/165

Entries that are no longer current

Each register decides separately, so these are grouped by instrument and jurisdiction and never combined into one timeline.

GreeceNational list entry

  • Observed 2026-08-27Surrendereddate not published by the sourceThe EU Plant Variety Portal — national list entry records this entry as “Surrendered” and publishes no date for the change.
    • These registers publish a grant or listing date but no date for an entry ceasing to be current, so when this ended is not established here.

ItalyNational list entry

  • Observed 2026-08-27Surrendereddate not published by the sourceThe EU Plant Variety Portal — national list entry records this entry as “Surrendered” and publishes no date for the change.
    • These registers publish a grant or listing date but no date for an entry ceasing to be current, so when this ended is not established here.

PortugalNational list entry

  • Observed 2026-08-27Surrendereddate not published by the sourceThe EU Plant Variety Portal — national list entry records this entry as “Surrendered” and publishes no date for the change.
    • These registers publish a grant or listing date but no date for an entry ceasing to be current, so when this ended is not established here.

History records what an official source published at a point in time. Where the source states the date a change took effect, that date is shown; where it does not, only the date AgricultureID observed the change is shown, and it is labelled as such.

Each history is specific to one jurisdiction and one legal instrument. A right that expired in one country says nothing about a listing in another, and they are never combined.

A variety registration permits marketing; a plant variety protection right is ownership. They are granted by different bodies under different law and are never added together.

Entries are matched to this cultivar by identical denomination and by matching botanical species. Registers do not publish a global variety identifier, so a same-name entry in the same species could in principle be a distinct variety.

Registration is jurisdiction-specific, is granted under a particular legal instrument, and changes. A variety absent from a register may still be grown; confirm the current position with the responsible authority before acting on it. How registration is recorded.

Relationships

Evidence-backed connections in the knowledge graph.

Adapted to climate

Adapted to soil

Scope & limitations

Geographic scope: Best documented in North American production; also grown elsewhere. Culinary and agronomic behaviour is region- and season-specific.

Climate context: Temperate cool-season maincrop.

  • Cooking and agronomic behaviour is region- and season-specific and varies with storage.
  • Germplasm is held in genebanks; this is not a statement of commercial availability or of registration in any particular jurisdiction.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]GRIN-Global / National Plant Germplasm System (opens in a new tab)

    USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Solanum tuberosum classification and U.S. germplasm/accession context

    Type:
    Official registry
    Jurisdiction:
    United States / Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]USDA ARS — Agricultural Research Service (opens in a new tab)

    USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: USDA potato variety release and research

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  3. [3]Encyclopaedia Britannica (opens in a new tab)

    Encyclopaedia Britannica

    Moderate

    Cited for: General background on the variety (secondary)

    Type:
    Reference database
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12

Related topics

Crops