Potato farmers discover freeze losses
Potato farmers are bringing in the last of their harvests and figuring out which spuds can be saved.
The weather on Thursday was not cooperating with some farmers with winds blowing and dust flying.
Tom Holm, was driving a water truck trying to spray and keep the dust down.
He believes he may have lost 30 to 40 percent of the 700-acre spud crop he planted.
“We’ve had to hire crews to sort out the potatoes and threw them out, so we don’t ruin our storage.” Said Holm. “You put them in the storage, and they’ll just kind of meltdown and flood out the bottom of the door. It’s basically an economic disaster we’re having in this state.”
Garth Van Orden tells Local News 8 and KIDK Eyewitness News 3 he figures he lost 10 percent of his crop to freezing temperatures.
He hopes reduced spud numbers will bring up the prices and help offset the loss, but he’s not holding his breath.
Some farmers are trying to sort out the frozen spuds.
Some are not even taking a chance and just spreading the spuds out on the fields and disking them under for nutrient value.
KIFI 2019
