IS A POTATO FAMINE LOOMING?

We've documented the absence of peanut butter and baby formula in the stores, and more recently, there was the curious incident of a bin of Idaho russet potatoes on close-out, although the bin was ... empty.  There's a reason the potatoes have been missing lately.

“I’m not sure if you remember last June, but we had some just unbelievably hot temperatures here in Idaho. It did a number on our potato crop,” said Jamey Higham, president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission. “And so, our yields were significantly down last year.”

Now, keep that in mind when you learn that a previous year’s potato crop cycle is supposed to last through the following August. And before the 2022 harvest comes into the pipeline (it’s just now beginning), consumers are facing the shortage from last year’s crop.

”There is not a gap. There are just less [c.q.] potatoes being shipped right now than there normally are this time of year because of the shorter supply that we started the season with,” said Higham.

Stretching out the stockpile is as much an art as it ever was.

What, then, is the state of the spuds this season?  Perhaps less bad.  "2021 was a brutal year for water resources in Idaho, but moisture and cooler temperatures in early 2022 helped prevent a repeat in Southwest Idaho."  This year's monsoon rains are a little more generous.

And now, dear reader, I understand why Maine potatoes were being shipped to the west coast!