Workers transfer harvested potatoes into storage at Doug Gross Farms, Wilder, Idaho, on Saturday. 

Kamren Koompin was reminded what a normal potato crop looked like this fall as he surveyed his harvest.

“Size is better than it has been in the last two years,” the American Falls, Idaho, grower said. “It’s probably back to the five-year average. The last two years were definitely below, so that’s good.”

Idaho potato growers are wrapping up their harvest of what looks to be their first normal crop in a while.

Last year and 2021 had below average yields because of unusual weather and smoke impacts. In 2020, yield and quality were above average offset to an extent by a drop in planted acreage. The harvest in 2019 was marked by a drop in production and slight decrease in harvested acres, hurt by early frost.

Results vary

“As always, it’s a bit of a mixed bag,” Idaho Potato Commission CEO Jamey Higham said Saturday. “Last year, it was pretty much down everywhere. This year, results vary from one field to another, but overall quality looks good and yields seem to be decent.”

Rain in southern Idaho during the weekend slowed harvest progress a bit, “but nobody is really concerned yet,” said Travis Blacker, the commission’s vice president of research and industry relations.

Quality is good, and better than it was in 2022, he said. As for yield, more will be known at seasons end, “but it’s safe to say that yields for this crop are better than last year’s. Growing conditions for this year were favorable.”

Idaho leads the U.S. in potato production. Planted acres totaled about 330,000, up 12% from last year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.