Michigan is one of the nation's highest producers of potatoes used in potato chips. The state also produces almost two billion pounds of potatoes per year. “Michigan plays a real key role in potato production in the U.S.,” Chris Long, potato extension specialist at Michigan State University, said. A disease called potato early die complex could potentially impact around a quarter to a third of the state's potato crop. “It feeds on potato roots. It infects them,” Long said. “The fungi get in the roots, and they grow and they clog up the vascular system of the potato roots, thus causing an early death.” The disease is not new, but Long said it has gotten worse recently due to environmental factors, the increased demand for food sustainability and the shift from widespread farming to commercial. “We have really moved from a culture of an agrarian society, where we had 300,000 acres of potatoes in Michigan at one time, to where we're at a point that, what, maybe not even 1% of our ...