Washington, Idaho Potato Harvest Falls

The Idaho and Washington potato harvests dropped dramatically this year, but the nation still produced its second-largest crop in history.

Idaho production was down 5 percent, Washington 9 percent, as farmers harvested fewer acres of spuds with lower yields, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.

Idaho farmers dug 131.27 million hundredweight, or 6.6 million tons of potatoes, down from 138.8 million hundredweight, or 6.9 million tons last year.

The state, which leads the nation in potato production, averaged 16.5 tons per acre, down from 17 tons a year ago. Farmers harvested 398,000 acres, down from 408,000 acres.

Washington farmers harvested 80.85 million hundredweight, or 4.04 million tons, on 147,000 acres. That was down from 88.92 hundredweight, or 4.45 tons, on 152,000 acres in 1994.

The 20.1 million tons harvested nationally was second only to 1994’s record 21 million tons.

, DataTimes