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The USDA reports that growers in the 13 reporting states planted 941,000 acres of potatoes in 2024. That is 24,000 fewer acres than 2023, a 2.5% reduction. It matches the five-year average planted area in those same states. Ten states reported a downturn in this year’s planted area. The largest acreage reductions came in Washington (-10,000 acres), Idaho (-5,000 acres), and Oregon (-3,000 acres).
Potato acreage in Maine and Minnesota is unchanged from the previous year. Michigan is the only state that planted more potatoes in 2024 than it did in 2023. USDA puts Michigan’s 2024 potato area at 53,000 acres, up 3,000 acres from the 2023 crop.
New-crop chip potato shipments, through June 30, are running 4.7% ahead of the 2023 pace. Slow movement from Florida has been offset by increased shipments from other growing areas. At 1.796 million cwt, Florida’s chip potato shipments are running 40.0% behind 2023 movement. The West Coast region has shipped 1.796 million cwt of new-crop chip potatoes, up 69.2% from a year earlier. Shipments from the Southwest region are running 74.1% ahead of last year’s pace, at 1.052 million cwt. Reported shipments from the Mid-Central region total 312,000 cwt, up 55.9% from a year ago. North Carolina growers have shipped 561,000 cwt of chip potatoes so far, down 20.6% from the previous year. Shipments from Georgia and Virginia are picking up. Wisconsin, New York, and the Red River Valley are still shipping storage potatoes, but those supplies are cleaning up quickly. Michigan’s storage chip potato supplies have been exhausted.
U.S. packers shipped 1.664 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending June 29. That is down from 1.735 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 57,300 cwt of potatoes during the week ending June 29. That is up from 36,000 cwt shipped during the same week in 2023. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 70.9% russets, 26.7% yellows, and 2.4% round whites.
USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for $9-$10.50 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling size A russets in 5-pound bags for $10-$11.50 per 50-pound bale, also unchanged. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $7.50-$9.50 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $13-$15 per 50-pound box, up from $12-$14 per 50-pound box last week. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $11.43 per cwt, up from $11.31 per cwt last week.
Virginia packers are selling 50-pound sacks of size A round white potatoes for $19.50 per bag, down from $19.50-$21.50 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.