Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on 40-pound cartons of U.S. No. 1 Grade sweet potatoes out of Mississippi:

2008 crop: mostly $17.50-18.

2009 crop: mostly $16-17.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Sept.8.

The Shipping Scene

Rain and cool weather this summer put a damper on sizing of early-season sweet potatoes out of Mississippi, but the tubers should start bulking up over the next few weeks, grower-shippers say.

"We haven't had the hot weather that sweet potatoes love," said Trey Boyette, sales manager and partner at Carter Edmondson Farms in Vardaman.

The company started harvesting Sept. 1, a week or two later than usual, and yields and quality look good, he said.

Like most Mississippi sweet potato growers, Carter Edmondson Farms produces mostly the beauregard variety, but the firm also grew some of the new evangeline variety last year and continues to test some this year.

"So far it looks good," Boyette said.

Although evangelines offer advantages that growers appreciate, they look and taste very much like the beauregard, he said.

Boyette expects strong prices this year since every state that grows sweet potatoes has lost some growers because of the economy or their inability to secure crop loans, he said.

"There's going to be (fewer) potatoes around," he said, and that could shore up prices.

Some growers are shipping as many new crop sweet potatoes as possible in order to build up their cash flow, he said.

Boyette thought he would have plenty of cured potatoes left over from last season, he said, "But that's not going to happen." He's fulfilling his contracts for cured potatoes, but he's shipping new, "green" potatoes to many buyers at this time.

For the third year, Carter Edmondson Farms will ship in a special pink box during October to raise funds to fight breast cancer, Boyette said. Together, the company and participating retailers will contribute 20 cents to a breast cancer awareness fund for every box sold.

N&W Farms Produce Inc. in Vardaman was just beginning to harvest sweet potatoes last week, a week or two behind schedule because of the rain and cool weather in July, said Randle Wright, one of the owners.

The hottest weather this summer came in late June, when growers were planting their crops, he said. July and August were cooler than usual.

"We're waiting for the potatoes to size up," he said. "Quality is good right now."

Wright said pricing is hard to predict. With states like North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama also shipping sweet potatoes, any swing in supplies in one state could affect markets in neighboring growing areas.

N&W Farms Produce has about the same acreage as last year, but Wright said it is too early to predict yields. However, he said he does expect good supplies for Thanksgiving.

Sandra Lucius of Parker Farms Inc. in Vardaman said the company started harvesting sweet potatoes on schedule late last week, and the potatoes have a good, dark color. That's a good thing because light-colored potatoes tend to show off even minor bruises from washing or handling.

The fields aren't yet producing a lot of jumbo sizes, but many No. 1's are available, and she expects larger potatoes to start appearing after they've been in the ground a few more weeks.

Heavy rainfall in July helped boost sweet potato volume at Parker Farms she said, and prices were reported to be fairly strong - in the range of $18 to $19.

Mississippi grows about 18,000 of the 96,000 acres of sweet potatoes produced in the U.S., said Benny Graves, executive secretary for the Mississippi Sweet Potato Council in Vardaman. The state will have about 2,000 fewer acres this year than last.

The beauregard is the state's main variety, but growers produce some covingtons, and more of the evangelines should start showing up next season, he said.

The council plans to promote sweet potatoes with some regional radio ads, and the state is scheduled to host the national sweet potato convention in Biloxi Jan. 24-26.

(By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

September 11, 2009