Frank Mulcahy

Frank Mulcahy is an agronomist specialising in seed potato certification and seed production, with deep experience developing seed potato production systems in challenging growing environments around the world.

For much of his career he operated the field research and development programme for Australia's largest processed potato and vegetable food company. Through his independent practice — Spud Doctor — he continues to provide research and agronomic guidance to clients across the industry.

His work has taken him into the earth of Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, China, Canada and the United States.

Yield variation, mapped and managed (Precision farming) Industry-leading precision-farming outcomes: identifying within-crop yield variation and adopting land mapping (EM38), yield monitoring, aerial crop-vigour imaging (NDVI) and variable-rate irrigation.

Pre-storage seed cutting (India) Pioneered pre-storage seed potato cutting in India, recovering oversize seed tubers safely in the most favourable conditions. 100% seed recovery ex-storage · ~1M t/yr potential saving.

Seed tuber maturity chart (Methodology) Developed a seed tuber maturity chart based on day-degree accumulation — now a blueprint for maximising stem numbers in seed crops.

Awarded for innovation (Recognition) Recipient of Simplot Australia's Game-Changer Award for Innovation, the Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group's Research Excellence award, and an award for Outstanding Industry Contribution.

Across two years as Simplot Australia's Seed Potato Production Manager and ten years as its Research & Development Manager, Frank led the research team and budget improving productivity and profitability for grower-suppliers to Simplot's processing facilities — overseeing around fifty potato and vegetable research projects each year — and reduced seed rejections while improving seed vigour, with downstream production gains. Simplot processes over 300,000 tonnes of potatoes a year.

He developed an early-generation seed potato programme in New Zealand, and spent four years managing the government-provided Tasmanian Certified Seed Potato Scheme (TasSeed), including the transition of growers from a field-grown supply system to a minituber-based one. He provided agronomic expertise to Technico — India's biotechnology-based seed potato company using proprietary TECHNITUBER® technology — supporting the expansion of early-generation seed production across multiple countries, drawing on more than six years' experience implementing leading-edge agricultural technologies overseas.

He has served on the Australian Processing Potato Industry Advisory Committee (2008–2014), the national research advisory committee — which apportioned the research levy across national industry challenges — and Technical Oversight Group, and the steering committee for national certified seed potato standards, whose outcome was a single national Australian standard for certified seed potatoes. He has also been an Australasian advisor to the World Potato Congress.

Publications

• "Understanding spatial variability in potato cropping to improve yield and production efficiency" — a collaborative project with the University of Sydney.
• "Unstringing the G thing" — research into the effect of multiple field exposures on the health and yield of Russet Burbank and Kennebec potatoes.

Research & innovation

• Developed intellectual property on yield enhancement through hormone control.
• Adoption of PCR pathogen soil analysis, delivering world-leading site risk management.
• Distribution and installation of seed-potato cutting equipment across Idaho, Washington and Oregon, USA — with Milestone Machinery Co, 2000.
• Plant-density research on the cultivar Kennebec for export to Indonesia.
• Study into the effect of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus-infected seed on following crops of Russet Burbank and Shepody.