During the week which ended Oct., 16, Idaho's farmers were kept out of their fields due to very muddy conditions caused by heavy rain, reported the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) Idaho field office.

According to the NASS report, days suitable for fieldwork were 4.5. Power County reported the weather was still good enough for sugarbeet harvest, and other counties across the state noted that corn silage, potato, onion, and dry bean harvests were wrapping up. Ninety-five percent of Idaho’s corn crop is rated in good to excellent condition. Ninety-one percent of the corn has dented, well behind last year’s pace. Eighty percent of the corn has reached maturity and field corn for silage is 85 percent harvested.

Dry edible beans are 95 percent harvested, catching up to last year’s pace. A couple weeks ago the harvest was well behind the 2015 pace. Onions are 90 percent harvested, also behind last year’s pace. Idaho dry bean production is forecast at 2.78 million hundredweight (cwt), up 30 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 139,000 acres, is up 20,000 acres from 2015. Yield is also expected up 200 pounds from last year at 2,000 pounds per acre. Potatoes are 91 percent harvested, while sugarbeets are 52 percent harvested and 96 percent are in good to excellent condition.