Frequent cool, wet conditions in the northeastern stretch of Idaho potato country finally gave way to some welcome heat as July commenced, pleasing Weston Crapo. “They are growing like crazy. We finally got some weather,” said Crapo, sales specialist with potato grower-shipper Sun-Glo of Idaho in Sugar City, north of Rexburg. “Things are growing really well.” Idaho potato fields looked good as of early July as plants closed in over rows, signaling the tubers are preparing to grow strongly amid the hot-day, cool-night march toward harvest. Producers in the country’s top potato-production state remain optimistic barring unforeseen weather, pest or disease events.
“I would say we are pretty much back on schedule historically,” Crapo said. “We may have been a little behind early on, but things are catching up and looking good.” Nature will largely determine harvest outcome, “but there are no diseases or anything we are worrying about at this point,” he said. “And we really anticipate a good, consistently warm summer through the rest of the growing season.” Read more
