As potato harvest starts to wrap up across the Northwest, how does the 2019 crop look?

Heat-related illness is one of the most common maladies to befall outdoor workers, particularly in agricultural settings.

Mark Pavek, professor and potato specialist at Washington State University, at one of the research potato fields in Othello.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has expanded the drought emergency declaration to cover nearly half of Washington state due to worsened, poor water supply conditions around the state and warmer and drier weather predictions through the summer.

Spring is just now beginning to shine in much of eastern Oregon and Washington. A winter of record snowfall left the ground frozen or flooded much later than normal. As a result, farmers are getting a late start on their crops.

The Washington State Potato Commission, headquartered in Moses Lake, Washington, has been pleasantly surprised by the weather and its impact on this year’s potato crop in the state.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that potato producers in Washington voted to continue their federal marketing order program.

Washington potato producers will vote from June 9–23, 2017, on whether to continue the federal marketing order regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Washington.

Fresh-market potato growers in Washington and Oregon may not know what their 2015-16 crop will look like until they start harvesting, which should be a week or two earlier than usual.