08/07/08 Organic potato production studies

There's a growing demand for more organically grown food. Amber Moore and Nora Olsen are growing organic potatoes, some processing, some for fresh markets, seven different varieties in all in a small field at Kimberly. Olsen says they're trying to learn as much as they can for an expanding segment of agriculture. OLSEN "Not only maybe because there's some good benefits agronomical, good benefits to growing it, also because maybe that's what the market is wanting. Just for instance, Yukon Gold. Yukon Gold's are obviously well known and people will probably want organic Yukon Gold." The two University of Idaho extension scientists want to learn how to transition from a conventional field to organic, from alfalfa to potatoes and be able to pass that knowledge onto farmers who may want to do likewise. Olsen says they have many questions to answer including a major one, how to control weeds. OLSEN "We've been calculating how many times we've had to go in and cultivate, how much time is involved, if we do have anybody weed, how long are they in there. We're trying to get a cost estimate on growing potatoes. This is the first summer of a project that will be expanded next year to answer some of the questions that are certain to pop up this year. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott