Idaho Potato Seeded Hectares Higher than Those of 2022
According to United Potato Growers of America (UPGA), cited by AgInfo, which conducts a physical count of spud hectares in Idaho each year, Idaho farmers planted 133,084 hectares of potatoes this year.
This estimate is 13,701 hectares, or 12%, larger than the total of 119,382 hectares from the previous year.
Due to difficult agronomic circumstances and a considerable drop in hectarage, Idaho’s overall 2022 potato production was lower than average.
Although Idaho’s potato growers and industry executives anticipated a significant increase in hectares this year, the 133,084 ha figure announced on June 22 exceeded expectations.
5.44m tons of potatoes were produced in Idaho in 2022, a significant decrease from the 5.89m tons typically produced in the nation’s top potato-producing state.
Farmers and industry executives anticipated an increase in hectarage in 2023 because of this past year’s above-average farm-level potato prices.
North American Potato Market News (NAPMN) projects that overall spud production in the state might reach 6.66m tons in 2023 if average potato yields in Idaho this year reach the 20-year trend, or 55,42 tons per hectare. If achieved, that would surpass the current record of 6.89 million tons set in 2000 as Idaho’s second-highest potato production year. That would also be 22% more than the crop in 2022.
Additionally, according to NAPMN estimates, Idaho’s potato stockpiles as of June 1 were down 19% from the same time last year. According to NAPMN, that is the state’s lowest June 1 inventory since 2011.
