I read a fairly complete report from Terri Adams from the online ag publication Prairie Star. The part I liked the best was the headline which said Idaho producers are finishing up planting and getting a very good start on the season. Last year, with the wind and cold that was not so much the case. In the article, Steve Hines, who is the Extension educator for Jerome County, was quoted as saying “In our area in the Magic Valley things are looking really good this spring.” In terms of water, Hines said: “With the exception of a couple of water basins, the irrigation water supplies in the our area are looking good. We were really saved by a couple of big snowstorms that came through in February and deposited a lot in the mountains, which is where our irrigation comes from.” As for planting, Hines said his area is average and a bit ahead of schedule. It also turns out that potatoes, which are always of interest to me, are 62 percent planted across the state, ahead of last year’s 45 percent average and the five-year average of 44 percent. So just to get up close and personal I called up the executive director of the Idaho potato commission, Frank Muir and asked for a state of the state spud wise. “from all indications from growers thus far, it has been a very good planting season so we think is going to follow a very strong year that we had last year in Idaho potatoes. We had a right sized crop last year, a very good quality crop, and with indications from the weather so far, for the most part cooperating with our planting, we think we are headed for a very positive harvest year coming up here in just a few weeks.
