Potato Industry Keeps Up with Market Trends
Idaho’s potato farmers had a happy and lucrative 2017. According to the United State Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS), production value of Idaho potatoes increased from $968.3 million in 2016 to $1.19 billion in 2017, almost 23 percent. However, harvested area fell in 2017 by 15,000 acres from the 2016 acreage, and production quantity decreased by 363,000 tonnes to 5.96 million tonnes. Along with bananas, potatoes have surpassed tomatoes as America’s most purchased fresh vegetable, according to industry journal The Packer’s 2017 Fresh Trends Survey. Lately, consumers want more specialty varieties and smaller pack sizes. Producers able to keep up with these emerging trends have the ability to plant less acreage while maintaining profits. Gro Intelligence provides subscribers with data and analytics to keep up with the shifting market dynamics in the US potato industry.