News on Potato Stats, Trade, Prices from Northern America

Eagle Eye Produce had been harvesting new crop potatoes for several weeks before beginning harvest for its storage supplies the week after Labor Day. While it is still too early to know the overall projection for the crop.

US Potato retail sales increased in dollar sales but decreased in volume sales from July 2021 - June 2022, compared to the same timeframe a year ago. As consumer prices increased by 10.5%, retail dollar sales increased by 5.7%.

Potato retail sales in the United States increased in dollar value and decreased slightly in volume from April - June 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. As prices increased by 13.6%, dollar sales increased by 12.6%. Volume sales decreased 0.8%.

Earlier this month Statistics Canada released their first estimate of potato acreage in Canada as a result of data obtained from their survey of potato growers in Canada. The 2022 potato acreage is estimated at 385,128 acres.

U.S. farmers started shipping fresh potatoes into the Mexican interior in May, about 20 years after an initial deal was signed between the two countries.

With testing completed on 5,000 Prince Edward Island (PEI) soil samples collected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from March to June no potato wart has been found.

Supplies of Idaho potatoes continue to be extremely tight and will likely gap before fresh crop potatoes come on later this summer.

Fields, where potato wart has been found, should be taken permanently out of any type of agricultural production, a P.E.I. legislative committee is recommending.

Potatoes USA, the marketing and promotion board for the potato industry in the United States, elected new leadership during its Annual Meeting on March 9, 2022. The newly elected Chairman and Executive Committee will lead the Board through 2022-2023.

The National Potato Council released the following statement in response to a joint announcement by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Mexico Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Víctor Villalobos 

Following last week’s USDA announcement that potatoes from Prince Edward Island will soon be able to resume exporting into the U.S. after a multi-month ban on exports, in turn, that should positively impact the Ontario potato market.

The P.E.I. Potato Board said it is 'no surprise' that there has been a third detection of potato wart, this one found in soil samples taken in October 2021.

The United States has agreed to let imports of Prince Edward Island table stock potatoes to Puerto Rico resume. United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made the announcement in a news release last week.

The Government of Canada is committed to restoring market access for PEI fresh potatoes to the United States and supporting PEI farmers impacted by trade disruptions.

P.E.I.'s agriculture minister says he is still hopeful potatoes in limbo won't have to be destroyed, but indications suggest restrictions on Island spuds will last into the new year.

Potato Production in Canada for the year 2021, is estimated at 123,054,000 hundredweight. This is up 18.9 million hundredweight or 18.2% above 2020 (which had very low production in the two Eastern provinces).

After 20 years of successful management, potato wart has closed the U.S. border again. P.E.I. farmers are five days into a suspension of trade for their potatoes into the U.S. market.

With its roots firmly planted on PEI soil for over 74 years, Johnston’s Homestyle proudly supports local farmers while they face challenges during supply chain restrictions.