Montana State Potato Seed Report 2023

Montana’s 2023 seed potato harvest was completed mid-October with near-perfect harvest conditions. Most seed potato growing areas experienced wetter-than- normal conditions in June and average temperatures and precipitation in July and August. The northwest growing areas were the exception with both warmer and dryer conditions. Growers reported excellent quality with very strong yields and a nice size profile.

Montana certified 10,610 acres for the 2023 crop. Russet Burbank maintains its top ranking at 3,353 acres but is down 7% from 2022. Clearwater Russet acreage had a very dramatic increase of 20% and is now at 1,910 acres. Ranger Russet ranks third at 1,284 acres and Umatilla acreage is fourth at 878 acres. Alturas rounds out the top five processing russets at 607 acres.

Overall, Norkotah selections make up 1,414 acres, and Texas 278 line has the highest acreage at 603. Texas 296 and Colorado 3 have similar production at 281 and 270 acres respectively, followed by Texas 112 (195 acres), standard Norkotah (45.67 acres) and Northwest Norkotah (18 acres). Specialty varieties including red, purple, yellow and fingerlings make up a small portion of Montana seed potato production at 289 acres. Chip varieties are a minor component of total production with Lamoka, Atlantic and Snowden combined at 173 acres.

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— Nina Zidack, director, Montana Seed Potato Certification