Beneficial rains over the Red River Valley in late August and early September were setting the stage for good harvest conditions of the region’s red potato crop.
Ted Kreis, marketing and communications director of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association in East Grand Forks, Minn., added that good harvest conditions, including a softening of the northern plains soil, can be as important to crop quality as the growing conditions that created the potatoes. If the soil is too hard it can damage the spuds during harvest.
Kreis said some Red River Valley reds were packed and immediately shipped in early September.
“We expect a good crop this year,” Kreis told The Produce News. “The early reports are that everything is looking good now. There have been a lot of samples,” but the large harvest for storage wouldn’t begin until mid-September.
“Last year we put about 4 million bags into storage," he said. "The number this year will be that, or exceed that. I really don’t know. Yields can vary tremendously. It’s hard to guess exact numbers.”
The Red River Valley’s red potato acreage is expected to be up 1 or 2 percent this year. In 2013, the valley produced 23,000 acres of red potatoes. North Dakota produces a total of about 90,000 acres of potatoes. Beyond reds, these are mostly russets that are virtually dedicated to the processing market. Kreis added that the red potato acreage actually includes yellow potatoes, which will represent about 8 percent of the fresh production.
David Moquist, the secretary-treasurer of O.C. Schulz & Sons Inc., located in Crystal, N.D., said the quality of the 2014 potato crop looks good, with higher yields than a year ago.
“If demand holds like it did with the Minnesota crop, there is a good chance the price holds,” said Steve Tweten, president and CEO of NoKota Packers Inc., located in Buxton, N.D. “If demand goes down” for Red River Valley red potatoes “with extremely cheap russets hitting the market, all bets are off.”
Tweten said russet potatoes “tend to put a ceiling on the market, but the spread in the price between reds and russets the past few years has increased. The ceiling is limited when russets are plentiful and cheap.”
“The potato crop looks nice; the quality is good,” said Tweten. “We have average tonnage, based on samples. Not everyone will be harvesting until the week of Sept. 15.”
In a press release that Kreis sent to The Produce News on Sept. 5, he said, “All signs are that it will be a very nice crop. Once we got past the late spring planting, growing conditions have been ideal, but we are still predicting average yields, but harvested acres may be up a bit. This would give us between 4.2 million and 4.5 million cwt. of potatoes for the fresh market; over 90 percent would be reds, the remainder yellows.
“Demand for red and yellow potatoes in both sectors has increased the past two shipping seasons quite rapidly at the expense of russets," the release from Kreis continued. "I think there are a number of factors including more exposure of colored potatoes on cable food networks, women’s magazines and restaurant menus. There has also been a substantial increase in retail promotions and shelf space as red potatoes have grown in popularity.”
Kreis added, “Red potatoes from the Red River Valley and Central Minnesota are easily the top sellers in supermarkets in most of the two states.”
Source: The Produce News