Idaho, Northwest potato production drops

Potato production is down about 2 percent, both in Idaho and throughout the Northwest, even though growers planted more acres, according to a Nov. 10 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service report. The NASS report also shows a significant decline in the percentage of high-quality potatoes. Upon learning that the crop might be smaller than many believed at harvest, industry sources say fresh sheds have slowed down shipments, contributing to price increases. Idaho growers planted 325,000 acres of potatoes, up 4,000 acres from last season, but challenging weather conditions reduced yields by 13 hundredweight per acre to 402 hundredweight per acre. Idaho production dropped to 132.32 million hundredweight, down from 132.88 million hundredweight last season. More