U.S. chip potato movement during November totaled 4.43 million cwt. That is 43,000 cwt less than the industry shipped a year earlier, a 1.0% decline. At 1.29 million cwt, Michigan’s November shipments exceeded 2022 movement by 17.7%. Wisconsin shipped 768,000 cwt during the month, 21.4% more that it shipped a year earlier. Chip potato movement from the Mid-Central region (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska) fell by 9.6%, while reported shipments from New York dropped 27.7%.
Season-to-date (Aug.1-Nov. 30) chip potato movement nearly matched last year’s pace at 17.23 million cwt. Michigan shipped 4.14 million cwt of chip potatoes during that timeframe, which is 4.2% more than last year. Season-to-date chip potato movement from Wisconsin exceeded year-earlier movement by 16.5%.
Canada
Stats Canada indicates that Canadian growers produced 122.97 million cwt of potatoes during 2022. That is 956,000 cwt more than the 2021 crop, an 0.8% increase. Ontario growers produced 8.160 million cwt of potatoes in 2022. That is 793,000 cwt less than the 2021 crop, an 8.9% decline. The split between table potatoes and chip potatoes will not be available until later this week, but the province should have plenty of supplies to fill its needs through the regular storage season. The 2022 Quebec potato crop is up 5.8%, from a year ago. Production in the Maritime Provinces is down 4.2% from last year. PEI and New Brunswick potato production dropped 2.2% and 6.6% from a year earlier, respectively. Production is up in Manitoba and Alberta and down from last year in Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
U.S. tablestock
U.S. packers shipped 1.437 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending Dec. 3, 2022. That is down from 1.780 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan’s reported shipments totaled 52,600 cwt of potatoes during the week ending Dec. 3. That is up from 46,500 cwt during the same week in 2021. Last week’s reported Michigan shipments were 89.6% russets, 4.9% round white potatoes, 3.4% yellow potatoes, and 2.1% red potatoes.
USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for $16-$17 per 50-pound bale, up from $15-$17 last week. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $14-$15 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling Russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $26-$32 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $37.24 per cwt. That is up from $37.05 per cwt a week ago.
Wisconsin packers are selling 10/5# bales of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $19.50-$22.50 per bale, up from $16-$19 per bale a week ago. They are selling 50-pound cartons of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $19-$22.50 per 50-pound box, up from $16-$19 last week. Red River Valley packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 2,000-pound tote bags for mostly $23-$26 per cwt, unchanged from last week.