Experts say that this year’s drought will result in a smaller potato crop in North Dakota’s Red River Valley area, but recent rains help with the harvest.
According to data recently published by National Agricultural Statistics (NAS) in North Dakota, the condition of the statewide potato crop for the week that ended on September 19, was 4% very poor, 16% poor, 63% fair, 5% good, and 2% excellent.
The dry conditions lowered the Red River Valley dryland potato crop yields, which mostly are fresh and seed varieties, from 20% to 25%, estimated Ted Kreis, Northern Plains Potato Growers Association marketing director, cited by Ag Week.
Around 29% of the crop was harvested as of September 9, which was 9% less than last year, but only slightly below the five-year average of 26%, the statistics service said.
Although August and September rains didn’t fall in time to give much of a boost to Red River Valley potato yields, they did soften the ground for harvest.
