At 1.06 million cwt, Michigan’s March chip potato shipments exceeded 2021 movement by 12.1%. They fell 2.5% short of the 5-year average. The state’s chipstock movement, season-to-date through March 31, fell 746,000 cwt short of year-earlier shipments, an 8.0% decline.
March US chip potato shipments exceeded 2021 movement by 23.4%. At 4.97 million cwt, that is 943,000 cwt more than the industry shipped a year earlier. March 2022 movement was the largest since 2014. Strong shipments from Wisconsin (+238,000 cwt), the Mid-Central region (+199,000 cwt), and the Southwest region (+187,000 cwt) were the largest factors in the increase. Shipments from Maine (+114,000 cwt), Michigan (+114,000 cwt), and the West Coast region (+112,000 cwt) increased substantially. Florida (+29,000 cwt) and New York (+24,000 cwt) also posted strong movement during March. In contrast, March chip potato movement fell short of the 2021 pace in the Rocky Mountain region (-89,000 cwt), and the Red River Valley (-9,000 cwt). US chip potato shipments, season-to-date through March 31, totaled 36.7 million cwt. That falls 1.2 million cwt, or 3.0% short of year-earlier movement.
US packers shipped 1.638 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending April 2, 2022. That is down from 1.740 million cwt a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 42,000 cwt of potatoes during the week ending April 2, 2022. That is down from 51,400 cwt during the same week in 2021. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 92.5% Russets, 4.3% Round White potatoes, 2.1% Red potatoes, and 1.1% Yellow potatoes.
USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A Russets in 10# bags for mostly $11.00-$12.00 per 50# bale, unchanged from a week ago. Wisconsin packers are selling size A Russet potatoes in 10# bags for mostly $10.00-$10.50 per 50# bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling Russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $17.00-$18.00 per 50# box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $21.15 per cwt, up from $21.12 per cwt last week.
Florida size A Yellow potatoes are selling for mostly $26.95-$32.25 per 50# carton, up from $25.95-$30.25 per 50# carton last week.
Maine packers are selling 2 inch minimum Round White potatoes in 10/5# film bags for $9.50-$10.00 per 50# bale, unchanged from a week ago. Florida packers are selling 50# cartons of size A Round White potatoes for $34.95-$35.25 per box, unchanged from last week.