Washington Potato Industry Draws Line on Cost of COVID

It cost Washington potato farmers USD2,532 per month and potato packers USD4,340 per month to supply and manage COVID-19 precautions, a Washington State University survey found. Farmers spent 17 hours per month and packers spent 49 hours per month managing COVID safety protocols, according to the survey, which was done by the university's IMPACT Center. The average farm in the survey had 1,889 acres in potatoes. The largest farm was 8,000 acres, and the smallest was 175 acres. The average respondent reported total COVID costs of USD24,116.

According to the survey:

• 17 farmers said they experienced delays in planting or harvest due to worker absences or shortages, while 18 had not. About 290 working days were lost with a financial loss of USD920,000 due to the delays.
• 14 farmers said they experienced efficiency losses in potato grading due to social distancing. The survey says those farmers averaged a USD16,000 loss, for a total loss estimate of USD176,000.
• 10 packers had an average delay of 13 working days due to worker absences or shortages, with an average loss of USD162,560.
• Four packers said they experienced efficiency losses. Each had an average loss of USD43,750, for a total of USD175,000.
• Growers averaged 25 temperature checks per day, and estimated four hours of routine sanitizing and five additional hours of sanitizing.
• 20 growers spent an average of USD22,443 purchasing new permanent equipment or structures, such as hand washing stations or hand sanitizing stands, for a total cost of USD448,850.

20 growers spent an average of USD5,005 purchasing disposable equipment, such as masks, other personal protective equipment, thermometers or hand sanitizer, for a total cost of USD160,150.