Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 40-pound cartons of jumbo-size beauregard variety Mississippi sweet potatoes from the 2006 crop season were $8-9; new crop were mostly $8; medium-size No. 1 grade 2006 crop were $18-19; new crop were $16-17; and No. 1 grade petite 2006 crop were $12-13.50.

*Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Sept. 10.

The Shipping Scene

Despite some hot, dry weather in recent weeks, growers say the Mississippi sweet potato crop is looking good this season, with acreage up significantly from last year.

Jeff Sullivan Farms in Bruce started shipping sweet potatoes about three weeks ago, right on schedule, said owner Jeff Sullivan. The company will harvest until early November and then ship out of storage.

The company was finishing up its 2006 crop this week and should start shipping new crop sweet potatoes the week of Sept. 17.

So far, the sizing and quality of this year's crop are good. Volume should be up for Sullivan Farms because of additional acreage, though yields likely will be down because of dry weather, Sullivan said.

Prices have been good so far, and Sullivan expected to see a good season if the weather holds.

Weather has vacillated from hot and dry to a rainy July and back to a hot and dry August, said Randle Wright, an owner of N&W Farms Produce Inc. in Vardaman.

The company just started harvesting sweet potatoes, so Wright was reluctant to make a prediction for the season. However, he said early potatoes were showing good quality and good sizing.

N&W started picking on schedule, and Wright expected volume to be similar to last year. He said he was pleased with the prices sweet potatoes are bringing in at this time. Forty-pound cartons are the standard package.

The company still had a few potatoes from last year's crop that were continuing to ship. Wright expected to harvest until late October, depending on weather.

N&W has been shipping more sweet potatoes year-round in recent years rather than just during the winter holiday period as consumers learn more about their nutrition value, he said.

Harvesting started on schedule three weeks ago at Ben F. Landreth & Son in Vardaman, said Andy Landreth, an owner. So far, quality has been "average" with sizes a bit smaller than last year because of sparse rainfall.

Weather lately has been hot and dry, Landreth said. Prices have been similar to last year.

The Vardaman area is known as "the sweet potato capital of the world," Landreth said, because of the large number of sweet potato growers in the region and because the soil seems just right for growing the tubers.

The Landreth family has been growing in the area since 1946.

Although Mississippi sweet potatoes were grown statewide in the 1930s and 1940s, today, the industry has become centered in the Vardaman area, said Benny Graves, executive secretary of the Mississippi Sweet Potato Council on the campus of Mississippi State University.

That's because of the perfect climate and soil for growing the tubers and because of the growing tradition developed over the years by many local families and the infrastructure that has been built up.

Of the approximately 100,000 acres of sweet potatoes in the U.S., 21,000 are in Mississippi, Graves said. That's an increase from 16,000 acres from last year.

Graves attributed much of the increase to increased public awareness of the nutrition value of sweet potatoes, especially among baby boomers. Per capita consumption has inched upward to 4.7 pounds, he estimated.

As of this week, about 25% of Mississippi's current crop had been harvested, and Graves said some welcome rainy weather was in the forecast.

"We're upbeat and excited," he said. "We need a good rain."

(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.)

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