Weekly Potato Report	Printable version Report Archives
From the Michigan Potato Industry Commission	September 3, 2008

CALENDAR

September 23-25, 2008 – Potato Buyer Tour, Grand Rapids, MI
February 11-12, 2009 – Winter Potato Conference and MSU Variety Day,
Comfort Inn Suites, Mt. Pleasant

January 7 - 9, 2009
Potato Expo – San Antonio, TX
Save $100 by registering by November 1st.

Potato Market Update by Bruce Huffaker

Potato chip demand remains strong. Chip plants are running primarily on contract potatoes. Current supplies appear to be more plentiful in the East than in the Midwest. Wisconsin growers are selling open chip potatoes for $15.00 per cwt, while New York growers are willing to sell for as low as $12.00 per cwt. Michigan dealers put the open market price at $14.00-$15.00 per cwt. Dealers believe that the market will tighten up by the end of the month. Several chip companies will finish their field delivery contracts by then, and will need to switch over to storage contracts.

Discussions on 2009 contracts are still preliminary, but buyers are showing more interest in locking in volumes early than they ever have in the past. The big puzzle seems to be determining what growers need in order to cover costs, and to compete with other crops for land. Strong commodity prices are driving up land rents to levels unheard of before this year.

August weather was not kind to potato crops across North America. Areas that had expected bumper crops are now suggesting that yields will be closer to five-year averages. Growers in Maine and eastern Canada worry about being able to store this year's crop, due to problems with water soak, soft rot, late blight, and other water-related issues. Acreage cuts had already trimmed the potential size of this year's crop. With the losses that have happened over the last month, US fall potato production could be down more than 10% from the 2007 crop.

Michigan growers are receiving $2.25-$2.40 per 10# bag for Onaways, unchanged from week-earlier prices. Long Island shippers are selling 50# bags of size A Round White potatoes for mostly $12.00 per bag, down from $12.00-$13.00 last week. Long Island chefs are bringing $14.00-$15.00 per 50# bag, down from $16.00 a week ago.

Unofficial reports indicate that Michigan growers are selling 2000# totes of Russet Norkotah potatoes for $18.00 per cwt, about the same as last week. Wisconsin is selling Russet non-size A potatoes in 10# bags for $11.00-11.50 per 50# bale, down from $11.50-$12.00 a week ago. Wisconsin 50-70 count cartons for mostly $20.00 per 50# box, down from $22.00-$25.00 a week ago. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Norkotahs is $33.24 per cwt, up from a revised $33.03 at this time last week.

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