Potato harvest is winding down in the Columbia Basin this week, with contracted growers reporting decreased profits and fresh market prices more than doubling from last year.
Fresh market prices for Russet Norkotahs increased last year from between $4.75 to $5 per 10-pound sack to this year's price of $10.50 per sack, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
But due to increased production prices, profit margins are thin for the majority of area farmers who sell their potatoes to processors through contracts, said Dale Lathim, executive director of the Potato Growers of Washington.
Lathim's Othello-based group negotiates all of the processed potato contracts in the Columbia Basin and provides other grower services.
Fresh market prices for Russet Norkotahs increased last year from between $4.75 to $5 per 10-pound sack to this year's price of $10.50 per sack, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
But due to increased production prices, profit margins are thin for the majority of area farmers who sell their potatoes to processors through contracts, said Dale Lathim, executive director of the Potato Growers of Washington.
Lathim's Othello-based group negotiates all of the processed potato contracts in the Columbia Basin and provides other grower services.
