Columbia Basin potato processors slowed down during the West Coast port impasse, making fewer potatoes into french fries, hash browns and other potato products shipped around the world.
Dockworkers reached a tentative contract agreement Friday, but the backlog at the ports could take months to unjam.
The labor dispute caused apples, hay and other goods to pile up. While some exports and imports made it through, many farmers, food processors, manufacturers, retailers and other Northwest businesses whose welfare is tied to international trade were hit hard.
Washington and Oregon potatoes processed as of the end of January dropped by about 6 percent, according to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The total of last year’s potatoes used for processing through January was 4.3 billion pounds. That compares to 4.5 billion pounds of the 2013 crop processed during the same months last year.
When the amount of Columbia Basin processed potatoes climbs or declines, it’s almost always tied to exports, said Dale Lathim, executive director for the Potato Growers of Washington and the United Fresh Potato Growers of Washington & Oregon. The domestic market is stable.
“The Columbia Basin is the premier export producer for the North American frozen potato market,” he said.
The region still moved about as many fries as last year, Lathim said. In December, exports were about 1 percent under last year, and in January they were about the same.
Processors have relied on ingenuity to move their products. Some have moved fries by railroad to the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast and Canada to access other ports, he said.
That costs processors more.
“Anywhere they can get fries on a ship, they are doing it,” he said.
When the port slowdown first happened, Lathim said the Columbia Basin lost existing customers.
“Right now we are only losing the growth that we would have been getting,” he said. It’s normal for their exports to grow between 10 and 15 percent each year.
How much this year’s potato crop will be affected remains to be seen.
ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston and JR Simplot Co. have rolled over last year’s contracts to this year for members of the Potato Growers of Washington. That means those growers will be assured the same number of acres this year as they had last year, Lathim said.
That means that if there is too much carryover from last year’s crop, it will be farmers who do not belong to the Potato Growers of Washington who will see reductions. More than half of the potato volume comes from member farmers, Lathim said.
Lathim predicted last week, before Friday’s resolution, that there wouldn’t be a major carryover of last year’s crop if the port situation resolved itself before March 15.
The impact will continue to be felt by businesses in industries that have lost customers as a result of the slowdown. It will be difficult to win back those customers. Sales lost since November are gone.
“This is going to continue to have repercussions,” said Jon DeVaney, Washington State Tree Fruit Association president.
Source: Tri-City Herald