The Michigan potato crop is in good condition. Frequent rain has limited the need for irrigation. Georgia shipped 32,186 cwt of chip potatoes last week, compared to a total of 13,500 cwt reported shipments last year. The chip potato harvest in North Carolina and Virginia will get underway during the next few weeks. Chip potato business is quiet. Manufacturers appear to have plenty of potatoes to meet their needs.
Canada had an estimated 24.70 million cwt of potatoes from the 2023 crop in storage on June 1. That is 5.38 million cwt more than year-earlier holdings, a 27.9% increase. Most of the extra potatoes are in Alberta and Manitoba. Stocks intended for processing are up 44.1% from last year. Table potato inventories are down 16.7%, relative to 2023. Canada’s estimated May potato disappearance exceeded the year-earlier pace by 9.7%.
Ontario had 1.03 million cwt of chip potatoes in storage on June 1. That is 224,000 cwt more than the province held a year earlier, up 27.7%. May chip potato movement exceeded the 2023 pace by 11.8%. At the May usage rate, Ontario’s storage chip potato supplies would last through July 24. Quebec held 1.08 million cwt of processing potatoes (for both chip and frying) on June 1, down 1.9% from a year ago. Quebec’s total May processing potato disappearance fell 11.6% short of last year’s pace.
U.S. packers shipped 1.812 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending June 8. That is up from 1.713 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 49,115 cwt of potatoes during the week ending June 8. That is down from 61,360 cwt shipped during the same week in 2023. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 87.3% russets, 9.0% yellow potatoes, 2.7% round white potatoes, and 0.9% red potatoes.
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 $8-$9 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $11-$13 per 50-pound box, unchanged from last week. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $11.15 per cwt, up from $10.91 per cwt last week.
Florida packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 5-pound film bags for mostly $28.95-$31.95 per 50-pound bale, up from $28.95-$29.95 per 50-pound bale a week ago. They are selling 50-pound cartons of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $28.95-$30.95 per box, up from $28.95 per box last week. Florida packers are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound cartons for $38.95-$40.95 per box, up from $35.95-$40.95 per box a week ago
− Report by North American Potato Market News