EEUU: Idaho s potato crop looks pretty good
Potato growers are describing 2016’s crop as ’’pretty good’’. According to one grower, Mike Telford, it’s too early to tell how his crop is going to yield, but from what he’s sampled and heard from other growers.
“It’s probably comparable to last year, yield-wise,” he guessed, “but there’s a really good crop under there.”
Potatoes benefited from the same weather conditions that favored both cereal grains and corn this year — early warmth allowed the crop to get a quick start but cooler temperatures during the summer reduced crop stress.
While rain the end of last week kept him out of the field, he was hoping that it would mean it wouldn’t have to irrigate to loosen up the potatoes so he could dig more easily.
Telford needs about three weeks of Indian summer to get his potato crop in the cellar. But in Caribou County, located in the heart of potato seed country in southeaster Idaho, growers are already 35 to 40 percent harvested.
That mirrors the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s estimate on September 19, which put harvest at 33 percent complete, well ahead of the five-year average of 17 percent.
Seed producers got a slightly earlier than normal start to harvest, but have been chased out of their fields by rain for a couple of days, said Steve Harrison, University of Idaho Extension educator in Caribou County. Harrison estimates that about half the potatoes in his area were dug without being irrigated.
From what he’s seen and heard from folks checking cellars, the quality of this year’s crop is excellent. According to NASS, 85 percent of Idaho’s potato crop was rated good to excellent.
Idaho and Washington State continue to dominate the nation’s potato supply, accounting for over half the U.S. fall potato crop.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2015 Potato Production Report, released on Sept. 15, Idaho growers produced 130.4 million 100-pound sacks in 2015, down 2 percent from the 2014 crop. Washington’s production totaled 100.3 million sacks, down from 101.5 million the previous year. Overall, the U.S. fall potato production totaled 405 million sacks.
Growers in both Idaho and Washington overwhelmingly plant one variety of potato — Russets - accounting for 91 percent of Idaho’s crop and 82 percent of Washington’s crop. White potatoes are the second largest category at 5 percent in Idaho and 11 percent in Washington.
About half of Washington’s crop has been harvested, a little behind the 5-year average of 53 percent.
Despite the promise of a good harvest, not all growers will be happy. Fresh potato prices are “horrible,” Telford said. Fortunately french fry demand remains strong.
Frozen french fries and other frozen products utilized 166 million sacks of raw potatoes in 2015 according to the USDA, up 2 percent over 2014.
Source: magicvalley.com
Fuente: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/164183/Idahos-potato-crop-looks-pretty-good
