US: San Luis Valley reporting good crop for 2015, organic acreage on the rise

With 52,900 acres of potatoes on the receiving end of good rainfall and not much hail throughout the growing season, Colorado’s San Luis Valley was getting ready in August to harvest what growers and shippers were describing as a good crop size-, yield- and quality-wise. Jim Ehrlich, executive director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee based in Monte Vista, said he had spoken with a crop consultant in mid-August, and Ehrlich said, “I think it’s going to be a good crop. There’s no reason to think otherwise.” Of note this year is the increase of organic acreage, which multiple sources said is now more than 4,000 acres. Ehrlich could not confirm that number, but he did say the category continues to grow. More