Th e rate and timing of N applications are important issues in precision agriculture because of the within-fi eld spatial and temporal variability of soil N availability. In-season assessment of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crop N status (CNS) is required to better match N fertilizer supply to crop N demand and improve N use effi ciency. Th e objective of this study was to investigate the ability of hyperspectral vegetation indices (HVIs) to assess the CNS and tuber yield of irrigated 'Russet Burbank' potato at diff erent growth stages. A 2-yr fi eld experiment was conducted near Quebec City, QC, Canada, on plots receiving fi ve diff erent N rates ranging from 0 to 280 kg N ha -1 , with 40% applied at planting and 60% at hilling. Entire plant samples were collected biweekly for determination of the N nutrition index (NNI) as the N status reference method. In-fi eld hyperspectral refl ectance derived from a handheld spectroradiometer and using two fi elds of view (FOV; 7.5° and 25°) was obtained on several dates during both growing seasons. Th e sensitivity of the fi ve HVIs most correlated to the NNI was evaluated by analyses of variance and least signifi cant diff erences. It was found that HVIs computed from refl ectance in the red-edge spectral region and using a wider FOV were the most appropriate indices to detect potato crop N stress. Among these indices, the CI1 red-edge (red-edge chlorophyll index 1) was the most sensitive to potato N content and could explain 76% of the variability in total tuber yield at 55 d aft er planting (DAP).Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; CNS, crop nitrogen status; DAP, days aft er planting; FOV, fi eld of view; HVI, hyperspectral vegetation index; LSD, least signifi cant diff erence; N0, 0 kg N ha -1 ; N60, 60 kg N ha -1 ; N120, 120 kg N ha -1 ; N200, 200 kg N ha -1 ; N280, 280 kg N ha -1 ; N c , critical nitrogen concentration; NIR, near-infrared; NNI, nitrogen nutrition index.