At Ladd Wahlen Farms, it begins with roots (small r) and ends with Roots (capital R).

“Overall, it was an average to average-plus year,” says Terry Helms of Simplot Grower Solutions in Oakley. Helms has been an agronomist in south central Idaho since 1985 and deals with a range of crops including potatoes, sugarbeets, corn, dry beans and small grains.

How do we preserve the individual farm legacy while preparing the farm for future generations? It was this question that brought 10 potato farmers together in the late ’70s and early ’80s to attempt to operate a fresh-pack potato shed together.

“The bottom line is,” says Mike Thornton, “if you have a lot of smoke, you can expect potatoes to be less productive, especially top-grade potatoes.” He found that yield in the smoke-treated plots dropped 2% to 3% each year.

“I’m an optimist, but I have seen fields overrun by kochia, and last year we learned that we have Palmer amaranth and waterhemp,” says Dr. Albert Adjesiwor, University of Idaho Extension weed scientist in Kimberly.

Profitability maps can be helpful for determining the relative extent to which different areas in a field are profitable or not, which can provide insights regarding whether there are any actions that can be taken to increase profitability in lagging areas.

With glyphosate, many see only the risks and not the benefits. A closer look at glyphosate shows that the safety concerns are not scientifically supported, and that the benefits are worth the perceived risk.

The ongoing collaboration between researchers, growers and the larger potato industry in southern Idaho continues to advance the region’s potato production.

On Nov. 15, the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) hosted its annual Big Idaho Potato Harvest Meeting in Idaho Falls. The “state of the industry” meeting welcomed growers, packers and processors from across the state gathered to network and learn about how the larger industry affects their operations and vice versa.