Beau Hartline, farm manager at Alsum Farms in Arena and Grand Marsh, says it was a bit of a mad dash to get the potatoes out of the ground before the frost on Oct. 15. He says the yield was average or a little bit below this year for many growers. Now, those spuds are going to be in storage for up to 10 months.

In other news, the Idaho-based Lamb Weston, the largest producer of french fries in North America, announced a restructuring plan on Oct. 1 that included immediately closing a production plant in Connell, Washington. Beau says it's too early to tell how that will impact the fresh table stock market that Alsum serves.