Fewer U.S. Potatoes This Year But at a Higher Quality Level

According to the latest news coming from the Potato Growers of Washington, the 2022 U.S. potato harvest is ‘definitely a lighter crop’ than what spud growers were ‘historically used to’, but ‘a little bit better than last year in terms of yield’.

“But it's a lot better than last year in terms of quality,” Dale Lathim, executive director of Potato Growers of Washington said, cited by Yahoo News. He added that the reason behind this was the unusual weather in the Northwest earlier in the year. The unusually cool spring delayed the crop's maturation. And just when the farmers thought the crop was going to catch up, then they had the heat wave hit.

“And we lost a lot of that bulking we would normally get in August. So what we're digging today is coming in about three to four tons less than average. It's a little bit smaller in size profile. So it will be smaller tubers, but, as I say, they are very, very high quality,” Lathim explained.

At his turn, Gary Roth, executive director of the Oregon Potato Commission, added that there have been no setbacks so far when it comes to liftings.

“The potatoes look to be of very good quality. There appears to be a minimum amount of bruising or damage. That's always good,” Roth declared for the above-mentioned media source.

The Potato Growers of Washington’s expert mentioned also that the spud market has stabilized as well.

“The frozen potato segment - which is the bulk of what we have here in the Columbia Basin, more than 80% of the potatoes go for frozen processing - that demand is very good. And because we have so much frozen processing in the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Northwest crop as a whole is down this year, plus there are reduced acres in Idaho, that situation looks like it's going to be very tight, but manageable on the processing side of it. But almost all of that is under contract, and the contracts are up 20% in value on average this year, which will help,” Lathim concluded.

Recent data shows that U.S. potato production was 7% lower in 2021 than the average production of the preceding five years, resulting in the U.S. potato shortage of 2022. This potato shortage has meant stores, restaurants, and individual consumers have struggled to find potatoes, much less reasonably priced ones.

By the end of September or the beginning of October, this year’s U.S. spud crop will be fully harvested and stored, offering significant relief to stores, suppliers, and restaurants across the country. Once the potato shortage of 2022 is over, French fry and potato chip makers can increase production, and restaurants can return to their regular menus.