The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that growers in the storage states held 275.7 million cwt of potatoes on Dec. 1. That is 10.0 million cwt less than those same states had in storage a year earlier, a 3.5% reduction. It is the second-largest Dec. 1 potato inventory since 2018, behind last year. At 142.2 million cwt, early-season disappearance from the 2024 crop fell 12.3 million cwt, or 8.0%, short of the 2023 pace. Part of the reduction is because of the large increase in early-season disappearance last year, due to tight supplies from the 2022 crop and the large 2023 crop. In addition, this year’s increase in old-crop usage offset new-crop disappearance during the June-November period. Early-season movement of the 2024 crop declined, relative to the previous year, in nine of the 13 reporting states and in the “other states” defined as California and Texas.
At 7.82 million cwt, Michigan’s early-season disappearance fell 340,000 cwt, or 4.2%, short of last year’s pace. It left the state with 14.40 million cwt of potatoes in storage on Dec. 1. That is 1.00 million cwt, or 7.5%, more than the December 2023 inventory. Slower chipstock and table potato movement were both factors in the reduced usage. Early-season chip potato shipments are down 13.2%, while table potato movement is down 9.9% relative to the previous year. The “other” disappearance category increased by 4.6%, to 3.62 million cwt. Growers indicate that this year’s harvest conditions were the best in recent memory. That suggests that Michigan’s 2024 production may be overestimated, or that Dec. 1 stocks could be underestimated.
Early-season chip potato movement from the storage states totaled 19.69 million cwt. That is 480,000 cwt less than year-earlier shipments, a 2.4% decline. New-crop chip potato movement from the reporting states is down from last year; however, it is 2.3% above the three-year average pace. We believe that large chipstock supplies in Michigan, Maine, Ontario, and Quebec are adequate to carry the industry through the storage season.
U.S. packers shipped 1.903 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending Dec. 21, 2024. That is up from 1.735 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Reported shipments from Michigan totaled 6,174 cwt during the week ending Dec. 21, 2024. That is down from 66,225 cwt shipped during the same week in 2023. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 70.8% russets and 29.2% round white potatoes.
Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for $10-$11 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling size A russets in 5-pound bags for $11-$12 per 50-pound bale, also unchanged. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for $9-$10 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $12-$13 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $16.84 per cwt, down from $16.91 per cwt the previous week.
Wisconsin packers are selling 10/5-pound bales of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $15-$16 per bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling 50-pound cartons of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $16 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. Red River Valley packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 2,000-pound tote bags for mostly $18-$20 per cwt, unchanged from a week ago.
Report by North American Potato Market News