08/05/05 A different way to grow potatoes

Bryan Hopkins has some potatoes in fields near Blackfoot but his Russet Burbank crop is growing in beds, not rows. The University of Idaho potato researcher says he found advantages in the beds, closure being one of the most important. HOPKINS "I'm closing rows two to three weeks faster on beds than I do with rows so that's one huge advantage. And then plus because I'm closing that row more quickly I'm capturing more sunlight. It's not a total waste but that soil that's in the bottom of the furrow it's really not being used that efficiently. The more we can spread the roots out and give more of a space for spud to grow and roots to grow we're just using our resources more efficiently." Today's equipment is set up for rows. That's one challenge for potato beds, a lack of hilling is another. HOPKINS "In many years we can show a yield advantage to hilling. We can spray a little herbicide on a little later than with the bed and then we can knock some of the weeds down with the tillage at hilling." Weed control, for now a major problem Hopkins reports. All that being said he got a good potato crop in the beds with drip irrigation, which meant less water use. Tomorrow how a skeptical Hopkins changed his mind. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott