News on Potato Stats, Trade, Prices from Northern America

Many Canadian Potato growers have been dealing with a difficult two months with an unexpected supply of processing potatoes as a result of decreased sales of French fries, as sit-down restaurants shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Potato Council has welcomed USDA’s announcement of a $50 million surplus potato purchase to support the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has shaken the whole world-impacting society and the global economy similar to the effect of a world war.

COVID-19-related restaurant closures lead to ‘curtailment’ of french fry production. Cavendish Farms has advised the P.E.I. potato producers under contract to supply the company with spuds to 'sell to other markets if they can'.

The increase in world potato production stalled in 2018 and failed to recover significantly in 2019. World output slipped by 1.5% to 368.247 million tonnes in 2018 figures just released by the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation show.

IRI data for the second quarter of the marketing year (October through December 2019) showed success with dollars and a decline in volume for total potato sales at retail in the United States.

Today the National Potato Council welcomed the signing of the Phase One Agreement reached between the United States and China by President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House.

Negotiations are underway for next year’s potato grower contracts in Washington.

Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said that poor harvests elsewhere in North America would create a 'strong demand' for Maine-grown potatoes.

The National Potato Council cheered the passage of the U.S.- Japan Agreement on Agricultural Trade by Japan’s Upper House.

Overall, U.S. potato imports declined slightly during the first quarter (July – September) of the July 2019 – June 2020 marketing year compared to the previous year, dipping 12% in volume and 2% in value.

Anaheim, Calif. – The 2019-2020 Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Board of Directors took office October 17th during PMA’s 2019 Fresh Summit Convention & Expo in Anaheim, California, USA.

Side Delights® announced today a cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) video and podcast-based program that invites consumers to step into our potato fields and experience for themselves why our potatoes are 'Grown Where it Matters'.

The United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGC) has released its most recent Canadian Potato Crop Report.

The mood was upbeat and confident at the Malin Potato Cooperative in February of 2015. The Merrill, Oregon, agricultural co-op was preparing to open a brand-new, $7 million state-of-the-art potato packing plant.

The United Potato Growers of Canada have released an update on the condition of the Canadian Potato Crop, as per August 15, 2019

The Canadian government of the provincial government of Prince Edward Island are providing some additional help for Island farmers following the poor potato harvest of 2018, they announced at a farm in Pownal, P.E.I., Friday morning.

The International Potato Technology Expo, a leading potato event in Canada, returns to the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown February 21-22, 2020.