Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on 40-pound cartons of orange North Carolina sweet potatoes:

U.S. No. 1 Grade, 2009, $15; 2008, $15-16;

U.S. No. 1 Grade petite, 2009, $10-13;

U.S. No. 2 Grade, 2009, $6-7; 2008, mostly $6.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Sept. 21.

The Shipping Scene

Although some growing areas endured an unusually dry summer, North Carolina's sweet potato crop as a whole should boast good quality and good sizing this year, according to growers and the Benson-based North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.

Nashville, N.C.-based Nash Produce LLC started harvesting on schedule about two weeks ago, said president Thomas Joyner.

Quality looks "above average," Joyner said, weather has been "very cooperative" and the harvest has been steady.

"We're making average progress - we're not ahead, we're not behind," he said.

The company, which grows the covington and beauregard varieties, will continue to harvest until late October or early November.

Nash Produce is shipping only cured sweet potatoes to ensure the best quality and taste, Joyner said, so the potatoes now being harvested are going into storage. Shipment of new crop potatoes should begin next week.

Joyner said he expects to see plenty of U.S. No. 1 Grade sweet potatoes this year, with sizes that are good, though "not extraordinarily large."

The company ships mostly 40-pound cartons and 3- and 5-pound poly and mesh bags and can pack to order for customers, he said. Bags are especially popular during holiday periods.

Kornegay Farms in Princeton also started harvesting sweet potatoes about two weeks ago, said owner Danny Kornegay.

"Quality looks real good," he said, however Kornegay grows in a dry section of the state, so potatoes weren't sizing up the way he would like, and volume was running behind last year's.

Some rain fell this week, and Kornegay was hopeful that even more rain will come along and help the potatoes size up over the next four to five weeks.

He stopped harvesting for a time this week to allow the tubers to bulk up, and he expected to resume picking Sept. 24. He is sending all the sweet potatoes into storage.

Kornegay, who ships only the covington variety, said he was hopeful for strong prices, since volume out of North Carolina should be down this year.

Mike Tart, owner of Tart Produce LLC, said sizing and yields were down this year at his company because of dry weather.

He started harvesting on schedule Sept. 12, and, like Kornegay, said he was hopeful for some light showers that would help sizing pick up. However, no rain was in the immediate forecast.

Although the company was shipping a few loads of newly harvested sweet potatoes each week, most of the product was going into storage. Tart Produce will pick until early November and ships sweet potatoes year-round.

North Carolina growers have planted 43,000 to 44,000 acres of sweet potatoes this year, slightly less than last year, said Sue Johnson-Langdon, executive director of the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.

Only 2% of the crop experienced extremely dry growing conditions this season, the rest enjoyed good to very good conditions, she said.

The commission is promoting sweet potatoes on the consumer side by sending media kits to food editors in New York City and pointing out to those with diabetes that "sweet potatoes won't spike blood sugars," Johnson-Langdon said.

At retail, the commission is working with a few selected chains to conduct customized promotions, and the organization is developing media kits for foodservice publications.

North Carolina produces more than 40% of the sweet potatoes grown in the U.S., she said.

(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 25, 2009

Sponsored by:

Nash Produce Company LLC