For Randy Hardy of Hardy Farms in Oakley, Idaho, the potato harvest is coming to an end. He started harvesting toward the end of September, and he hopes to be finished today, given the rain doesn’t slow his crews down. On Thursday, he had about 50 acres of potatoes left to harvest.
“Harvest has looked really good. We’ve had a couple of challenges from the weather, but the crop looks excellent; I think it’s the best quality crop that Idaho’s had in three or four years,” said Hardy.
Aside from the 2½ inches of rain southern Idaho’s Magic Valley got in September, Hardy said harvest conditions have been pretty good. He said this year’s crop is better than 2015’s and that he hopes to get some of the national buyers back that he lost due to poor harvests in years past.
“There will be plenty of potatoes around, and they’re good, marketable crop,” said Hardy. “We’ve had some issues in the past where some of our buyers across the nation have tended to turn away from Idaho because of storage and quality issues, and I think we’ll be able to get some of them back because of the quality of this crop.”
Hardy is affiliated with Sun Valley Potatoes, which sends potatoes as far as New York and Florida. But these potatoes will stay in Idaho.
“These potatoes are all designated to go to fresh pack, so they’re what you’ll find in a grocery store and restaurant,” said Hardy.
Once the potatoes are harvested, they’re taken to a storage unit, where they’re put onto machinery to filter dirt out. Workers also pick out dirt and clay by hand. The potatoes are then stored throughout the winter.
“All the storages are filling; the yields are better than we thought they’d be,” said Hardy.
Hardy harvests about 600 acres of potatoes, which he said translates to about 25 million pounds.
Source: KMVT-TV