Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on U.S. No. 1 Grade potatoes from Colorado's San Luis Valley:

Norkotahs: Baled five 10-pound film bags of size A's, $10-11; 50-pound cartons of size 40s, $11.50-12; 80s, $13; 100s, $12-13.

Round red: Baled five 10-pound film bags of size A's, $14; 50-pound cartons of size B's, $19.

Yellow: Baled 10 5-pound film bags Size A's, $16.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Nov. 5.

The Shipping Scene

Colorado potatoes survived wind, rain, hail and frost this summer to produce a good-quality crop of several varieties of tubers, grower-shippers say.

The two local growers whose product is sold by TMI, an Albuquerque, N.M.,-based sales agent previously known as Tan-O-on Marketing Inc., now have all their product in storage, said president Shannon Casey.

The company started shipping the new crop Oct. 20.

"We're generally one of the last ones to get going," Casey said.

There were some early concerns about weather incidents, including some frost during the harvest, but Casey reported that the quality of the potatoes he is shipping is excellent.

"It looks like everything came out of the ground just fine," he said, though there were issues with sizing and yields.

Although TMI will have the same or slightly greater volume than last year, overall volume in the San Luis Valley is expected to be down about 5%, Casey said.

The company ships norkotah, keystone, canela and rio grande russets; Latona yellow potatoes; and durango and Chieftain reds.

TMI offers consumer packs ranging from 5- to 20 pounds, bins, poly and mesh bags or "whatever anyone asks for," Casey said. The company also ships cartons ranging from 35- to 50 pounds.

Sizes in the initial runs have been large, but he said smaller sizes have been earmarked for consumer packs that will be popular for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Prices are strong but have tapered off from the summer highs.

"There was a huge shortage through the summer, and prices were at unseen levels," Casey said.

"I think it's finally stabilized," Casey said. "I look for prices to remain strong all the way through the holidays because of the reduction of acreage."

Many Colorado growers hope to catch consumers' attention by using the U.S. Potato Board's "Goodness Unearthed" logo on their packages, he said.

Bill Metz of Metz Potato Co. LLC, said the company finished harvesting its sole variety -- norkotah russets -- on schedule in early October.

"Quality was great," he said, despite a frost in early June and hailstorms in July and August.

The potatoes "dropped a set and started all over" as a result of the July hail, so growers ended up with a lot of small potatoes, he said.

"The (hail) in August wasn't that bad because the potatoes were pretty well done," Metz said.

Metz still managed to end up with good-sized potatoes, which should be available until late June or early July.

For the most part, warm days and cool nights brought good growing conditions.

The company ships an extensive variety of consumer packs and cartons, but demand has been slow, he said.

"I just think people cut back a little bit," Metz theorized, but he expected sales to pick up when Thanksgiving ads start in about a week.

Although he said acreage in Colorado should be down this season, Metz Potato Co.'s acreage should remain the same as last year - 250 acres.

The season got under way Sept. 15 for Farm Fresh Direct LLC in Monte Vista, two weeks later than usual, said Lee Jackson, operations manager.

Rain and cold weather in the spring slowed down the crop, "and we never did catch up," he said. But growers harvested later, "and everything came out fine"

The company ships norkotahs, nuggets, rio grande, centennials, canelas and yellow varieties.

The potatoes have a good size profile and quality looks excellent, Jackson said.

Five- and 10-pound consumer packs are the company's most popular packages.

Prices are good - in the $15 to $17 range -- but have settled down from the "higher prices than ever" growers were realizing during the summer, when some shippers said prices were as high as $30 a box.

(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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