The North American Potato Market News (NAPMN) recently forecasted North Dakota and Washington as the only two states that will have significant increases in potato shipments this fall. The report shows North Dakota’s production to be up 1.8 million hundredweight (cwt.) and Washington’s production to be up about 6 million cwt. Harvested acres are expected to be up significantly in both states.
The national scene is much different however, NAPMN is forecasting U.S. production at 402.1 million cwt. which would be down about 7.7 million cwt. compared to 2021. Idaho is forecast to lead all states with the largest decrease in production; down 11.9 million cwt. compared to last year. Idaho planted 290,000 fewer acres to potatoes this spring.
Wada Farms Marketing Group of Idaho Falls, ID concluded its potato harvest several weeks ago, with quality looking very good for the 2022/23 season.
It has acreage similar to last season, with yields a little higher. Quality is reported very good, although sizing of the crop is a mixed bag depending on what field they came from.
Wada Farms has been a family-run company for over 80 years, and grows more than 30,000 acres, of which about a third of that is in potatoes.
The company started with russets but has added colored potatoes, chippers and other specialty potatoesl as well as organic potatoes.
Wada Farms is monitoring its crop and shipping schedule to have supply until next crop becomes available in August of 2023. With limited supplies, a strong market is seen all season. There will be a lot of outside factors that the potato industry will have to contend with such as fryers and dehydrators and what they may do to upset the market.