Idaho state seed report 2024

Seed potato acreage eligible for final certification totaled 32,140 acres this year, a decrease of 6% from the previous season. Not including proprietary genetics, this acreage represents a total of 114 varieties, selections and advanced clones.

The top 10 varieties account for approximately 75% of the total acres, with Russet Burbank (all strains), Russet Norkotah (all strains), Ranger Russet (all strains), Clearwater Russet and Alturas continuing as the dominant varieties.

Crop yield for 2024 is generally reported as average, primarily due to a cold spring. Frost was also an issue in some areas. Growing conditions improved going into July, and the remainder of the season could be described as hot and dry.

The 2024 harvest season was also warm, but digging conditions were generally excellent. Seed potato harvest is essentially complete.

Seed health is similar to last season. The number of seed lots with visually detectable levels of PVY during field inspections increased to 7.9%. Blackleg levels were typical and there were no detections of potato leaf roll or bacterial ring rot again this year. Seed quality going into storage is reported as excellent.

Generally, the 2024 seed potato crop can be described as having an excellent shape and size profile.

— Alan Westra, Southeast area manager for ICIA