Spud Harvest

Spud Harvest

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
On cool crisp mornings across Idaho, farmers are digging spuds. Idaho Farm Bureau Pres. and farmer Brian Searle. “The harvest is always an exciting time. You’ll see what’s under the ground so a lot of Norkotahs are being dug and a lot of early varieties, the crop looks good, quality looks good. Burbank’s will start being dug in the next week or so across the state and we’ll see what is under them.” This year Idaho will harvest more than 322,000 acres. Idaho Farm Bureau commodities director Zac Miller: “I know the early varieties, the Rangers, the Umatilla’s, even the Norkotahs, sounds like were going to have some increased yields there but the classic Russet Burbank that Idaho is known for, I think were going to have a bit of a drag on yield. That being said, all the projections say we are going to have the same kind of yield as last year.” As diggers work early morning into late afternoons and into the night, the 2018 harvest is still a mystery. “it’s just a guessing game. Until that digger digs those last potatoes, we don’t know. So far the early digs that have been done, compared to other years, looks like tonnage is up a little bit but also our vines have died and the plants have died earlier this year than other years so I don’t know that they’ve got a lot of bulkiness going on in the last few weeks. I think will come out all right.
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