Overall potato acreage in Colorado’s San Luis Valley has remained relatively stable in recent years, with a 4-5 percent fluctuation depending on rotation. But one notable aspect of that acreage is the increase in certified organic acres, which in 2015 made up slightly less than 8 percent of the total.

According to information provided by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee in Monte Vista, total SLV ground planted in spuds in 2015 was 51,000 acres. Conventionals took up 47,000 acres, and organics accounted for 4,000 acres. Russets saw 38,540 acres in conventionals and 3,280 in organics. There were 2,820 acres in conventional reds and 240 acres in organics. Yellows had 3,290 acres in conventional and 280 in organics. And specialties had 2,350 acres in conventional, 200 in organics.After several seasons of below-normal precipitation, a winter storm in January added to already good snowpack in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. The consensus from potato industry members is that while still an ongoing issue, water should not be critical this coming season.

As certified acreage increases, production does as well. Organic yields were consistently at 275 hundredweight per acre regardless of variety. Conventional russets yielded 485 hundredweight per acre, reds 403 hundredweight, yellows 397 hundredweight and specialties 200 hundredweight.

Jim Ehrlich, executive director of CPAC, said organic acreage is predicted to increase as more growers transition ground.

“I do look for organics to increase. Our climate here is well suited for organic production. We don’t have insect or disease pressure that other areas might have, and our growers typically don’t use pesticides as much anyway,” he said.

Looking ahead to the 2016 planting and growing seasons, Ehrlich said the water situation, which in past years has been critical, “should be good.”

He said, “We’ve gotten good snowpack, and last year turned out to be a better water year for us [with precipitation up]. So water won’t be a restraint this year.”

Russet Norkotah is the No. 1 variety grown in the region, but Ehrlich said it is declining. “We don’t have a real replacement for the Norkotah, but the Canela is going up in popularity. That is a longer season variety, one of the last to be harvested, and it has excellent dormancy.”

CPAC works closely with the Colorado State University Research Center north of Monte Vista, where ongoing research is being conducted on varieties, soil health and other crop issues. One of the priorities the committee set for 2016 is to continue studies for nematode control through bio-pesticides.

The committee is looking at federal block grants to study soil health, researching the best plant companions for potatoes. Ehrlich said those could be buckwheat and legumes.

“That’s a project we’d really like to work on,” he said.