Idaho's 2003 potato crop appears ready to be harvested earlier than normal.
Statistics released Sept. 7 show that 61 percent of the state's potato vines have died or been killed. This compares to 43 percent last year and an average of 39 percent.
To date, 7 percent of the state's harvest was completed. In southwest Idaho it was 50 percent, in south-central Idaho it was 9 percent and in eastern Idaho, 2 percent.
Condition reports put 77 percent of the crop good to excellent. Some 23 percent is listed as fair to poor.
Irrigation water supplies are 25 percent good to excellent and 75 percent fair to very poor.