Harvest is ramping up in North Carolina, Virginia, and the Mid-Central region, which includes Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Harvest is winding down in Florida and Georgia. Wisconsin and the Red River Valley are still shipping storage chip potatoes. Those supplies are cleaning up quickly.
The Michigan crop is in relatively good condition. Remnants from Hurricane Beryl brought heavy rainfall to much of the state last week. Parts of southern Michigan received more than 3-4 inches of rain, though most parts of the state received less than 2 inches of rain. Late blight has already been detected in southwestern Ontario, Canada. While there have not been any reports of late blight in Michigan, growers are concerned about the increase in disease pressure caused by the warm, wet weather. Keeping up with spray planes has been difficult due to high humidity and fog.
Idaho’s planted area may be significantly smaller than USDA’s current acreage estimate. The United Potato Growers of Idaho (UPGI) recently completed their acreage count, which came in at just over 310,000 acres. That is 15,000 acres less than USDA’s June 28 estimate. It is 20,000 acres less than the current estimate for the 2023 potato crop. If UPGI’s estimate is correct, the total U.S. planted area, in the reporting states, could be down as much as 39,000 acres, or 4.0% from last year. That could be enough to improve prices for the 2024 crop.
U.S. packers shipped 1.638 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending July 13. That is down from 1.726 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 39,976 cwt of potatoes during the week ending July 13. That is up from 30,000 cwt shipped during the same week in 2023. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 98.9% russets and 1.1% round white potatoes.
Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $7.50-$9.50 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $13-$15 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $11.69 per cwt, up from $11.46 per cwt a week ago.
Virginia packers are selling 50-pound sacks of size A round white potatoes for $16.50 per bag, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling 50-pound round white chefs for $24.50 per bag, unchanged from last week.
Virginia packers are selling 50-pound sacks of size A yellow potatoes for $24.50-$25.50 per sack, unchanged from last week. They are selling 2,000-pound tote bags of size A yellow potatoes for $46-$48, also unchanged.
Report by North American Potato Market News