Growers in Southwest Michigan finished planting last week. Approximately half of the potatoes have been planted in Central Michigan. Chip potato movement is steady. Plants are running on a mix of new-crop potatoes and storage supplies. Michigan’s storage inventories are cleaning up quickly.
New-crop chip potato shipments are starting to pick up. Through May 6, total reported new-crop shipments are down 11.0% from year-earlier movement. At 424,000 cwt, shipments from Florida are running 45.3% ahead of last year’s pace. On the other hand, new-crop shipments from the Southwest region (Texas) totaled 184,000 cwt, down 52.9%. The Texas downturn is due to the retirement of a chip potato grower in south Texas. Shipments from the West Coast region started during the week of May 6. They totaled 122,000 cwt, down 11.4% from the same week in 2022.
Canada held 32.62 million cwt of potatoes in storage on May 1. That is 399,000 cwt less than the inventory on May 1, 2022, a 1.2% reduction. April disappearance totaled 12.80 million cwt. That exceeded the year-earlier movement by 1.77 million cwt, or 16.1%. It is Canada’s strongest April movement since 2016.
U.S. packers shipped 1.473 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending May 6. That is down from 1.535 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan’s reported shipments totaled 61,000 cwt during the week ending May 6. That is up from 38,000 cwt during the same week in 2022. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 79.7% russets, 14.0% round white potatoes, and 6.3% yellow potatoes.
The USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for mostly $16-$17 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling size A russets in 5-pound bags for mostly $17-$18 per 50-pound bale, also unchanged. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $15-$16 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $29-$33.50 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $39.68 per cwt. That is unchanged from a week ago.
Red River Valley packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 2,000-pound tote bags for mostly $28 per cwt, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound sacks for mostly $30, also unchanged. Florida packers are selling 50-pound cartons of size A Yellow new-crop potatoes for $24.95-$26.95 per box, down from $25.95-$27.25 per box last week. They are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound cartons for $45.95 per box, down from $45.25-$50.95 per box a week ago.
Florida packers are selling 50-pound cartons of size A round white potatoes for mostly $26.95-$27.95 per box, down from $27.95-$29.95 per box last week. They are selling round white creamers in 50-pound cartons for $38.95-$50.95 per box, down from $45.95-$50.95 per box a week ago.
– Report by North American Potato Market News