Montana keeps storing and hoping

GROWERS in Montana are storing crops, hoping for a better market.

Bars, restaurants, schools and cafeterias closed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to frozen french fries stacking up in freezers and loading docks and processors cancelling orders from growers.

A few months ago, millions of pounds of potatoes across Montana were either buried or donated, according to the Montana Department of Agriculture.

Streich Farms, one of the regions's large suppliers, is currently sitting on 10 million pounds of potatoes that were planted last May, which will be stored until next spring when they are normally sold to potato farmers in Washington.