Largest Year-over-Year Increase in Potato Production Since 1996
The US potato crop for the 2023/24 marketing year has experienced a remarkable 10 percent increase from the previous season, marking the largest year-over-year growth in the 13-NASS surveyed states since 1996. Following the fall harvest, these potatoes are stored to fulfill fresh-market and processor demands throughout the marketing year, with stocks also including potato seed for planting the subsequent year’s crop.
As of June 1, 2024, US potato stocks totaled 66.8 million hundredweight (cwt), a substantial 19 percent rise from the three-year average June stock volume. These stocks represented 15 percent of the estimated crop, compared to 14 percent the previous year.
More than 60 percent of the US potato crop is allocated for processing each season. Given the larger stock volume at this stage of the marketing year, it is anticipated that frozen and dehydrated processors will utilize some of the 2023/24 crop into the early part of the 2024/25 marketing year. By May 31, 2024, an estimated 194.6 million cwt of potatoes had been processed by the eight reporting states. The volume of potatoes processed into dehydrated products, excluding starch and flour, reached 33.6 million cwt, the highest in three years. This segment accounted for 17 percent of the total processed volume, consistent with the previous three-year average.
Despite the increased supply, grower prices for fresh potatoes in 2023/24 have remained low, ranging from $10.20 to $10.60 per cwt between January and May. This is a significant drop compared to the 2022/23 marketing year, where prices ranged from $21.20 to $23 per cwt during the same period.
Fresh potato retail prices, as reflected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI), also decreased in the early 2023/24 marketing year but have stabilized since January 2024. If historical patterns hold, prices in July and August are expected to be slightly higher than the averages observed from January to May 2024.
The increase in potato production and stable prices indicate a robust supply chain capable of meeting both fresh-market and processing demands. This growth provides a positive outlook for the industry, ensuring ample availability for consumers and processors alike.
