At 5.121 million cwt, new-crop chip potato shipments, through July 4, are running 0.6% ahead of the 2025 pace. Though total movement has been relatively stable, there have been wide swings between shipping regions. At 1.803 million cwt, Florida’s chip potato shipments are running 19.2% ahead of 2025 movement. The West Coast region has shipped 1.493 million cwt of new-crop chip potatoes, up 0.8% from a year earlier. North Carolina growers have shipped 709,000 cwt of chip potatoes so far, down 28.8% from the previous year. Shipments from the Southwest region are running 4.7% behind last year’s pace, at 434,000 cwt. On the other hand, shipments from the Mid-Central region total 506,000 cwt, up 48.1% from a year ago. The Rocky Mountain region has shipped 175,000 cwt of new-crop chip potatoes, up 7.9%. Reports suggest that shipments from Virginia are picking up. Wisconsin and the Red River Valley were still shipping storage potatoes last week, but those supplies are cleaning up quickly. There were no reported chip potato shipments from Michigan last week. Supplies there are nearly exhausted.
A heatwave is forecast to hit several Western and Midwest growing regions later this week. Temperatures are forecast to remain high for at least 10 days. Crop development is ahead of the usual schedule in many areas. Fields that have reached row closure and have sufficient moisture will be impacted less than crops that are behind or that have inadequate irrigation.
U.S. packers shipped 1.227 million cwt of table potatoes during the holiday-shortened week ending July 4. That is down from 1.275 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan packers shipped 28,254 cwt during the week ending July 4. That is down from 30,455 cwt shipped during the same week in 2025. Last week’s reported Michigan shipments were 100% russets.
The USDA has stopped reporting prices for Michigan as the shipping season winds down. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for $7.50-$8 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $15-$17 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho russet Norkotahs is $12.44 per cwt, up from $12.17 per cwt the previous week.
— This report was compiled by North American Potato Market News (NAPMN) for the Michigan Potato Industry Commission