Chip potato business has been steady. Supplies appear to be balanced with demand. There is very little demand for open-market chip potatoes; however, that could pick up somewhat by March. Michigan’s potato crop has been storing well, though there have been a few problems. Storages have been closed tight this week, due to the cold weather. Other storage issues could be exposed next week when temperatures warm back up. Contract negotiations are moving forward for the 2024 chip potato crop.
The USDA has adjusted production estimates for all 13 of the reporting states. USDA now estimates that growers produced 440.75 million cwt of potatoes in 2023. That is 42.01 million cwt more than the 2022 crop, a 10.5% increase. USDA increased its planted area estimate for Michigan by 2,000 acres, to 50,000 acres. It increased Michigan's yield estimate by 25 cwt per acre, to 435 cwt per acre. The net result was a 2.06 million cwt increase in the state’s 2023 crop estimate, to 21.53 million cwt, 14.0% more than the 2022 crop. Some local observers believe USDA has overestimated the size of Michigan’s potato crop.
Canadian storages held 85.01 million cwt of potatoes on Jan. 1. That is 5.68 million cwt more than they held a year earlier, a 7.2% increase. Stocks are up from last year in all provinces except PEI, New Brunswick, and Quebec. Potatoes intended for processing account for all the increase. Canada’s chip potato supply situation is mixed. Supplies are up 5.6% in Ontario, while Quebec’s processing (chip and frozen) stocks are down 14.8%.
U.S. packers shipped 1.767 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending Jan. 13. That is up from 1.571 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 85,615 cwt of potatoes during the week ending Jan. 13. That is up from 40,530 cwt during the same week in 2023. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 85.3% russets, 11.3% yellow potatoes, 2.6% red potatoes, and 0.8% round white potatoes.
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 $15.34 per cwt, down from $15.48 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