Potato Expo 2024 is taking place in Austin, Texas this week. Attendance is up approximately 20% from last year. It’s up about 10% from the record attendance in Las Vegas. The Potato Business Summit, which took place this morning, was a packed session. Presentations from that meeting can be viewed at potatobusinesssummit.com. The Expo is filled with vendor booths. There appears to be a wide range of growers and industry professionals from across North America in attendance.
U.S. packers shipped 1.369 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending Jan. 6, 2024. That is up from 1.339 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 53,372 cwt of potatoes during the week ending Jan. 6. That is down from 56,950 cwt during the same week in 2023. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 91.6% russets, 3.8% yellow potatoes, 1.7% round white potatoes, and 3.0% red potatoes.
The USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for $10-$14.75 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling size A russets in 5-pound bags for $11-$15.75 per 50-pound bale, also unchanged. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $9-$10 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $10-$12 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $15.48 per cwt, down from $15.73 per cwt a week ago.
Wisconsin packers are selling 10/5-pound bales of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $17 per bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling 50-pound cartons of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $17 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. Red River Valley packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 2,000-pound tote bags for mostly $21-$22 per cwt, unchanged from last week. They are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound cartons for mostly $30 per 50-pound box, also unchanged.
– Report by North American Potato Market News