Spud reduction
Idaho potato acres are projected to decrease by 15,000 acres this year compared with last year.
That would be a 5 percent drop if realized, from 315,000 acres in 2024 to 300,000 in 2025.
Total U.S. potato acres are forecast to fall by 4 percent, dropping from 930,000 acres in 2024 to 891,000 acres in 2025.
Those projections were made in the April 10 edition of the North American Potato Market News.
According to NAPMN, “the largest acreage reductions are expected in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Maine.”
According to potato market news, all three of the major frozen potato processors made significant contract volume cuts for the 2025 crop.
Those reductions ranged from 5-15 percent and some growers were zeroed out completely. Hydrators have also reduced contracts, by 30 percent or more. “Raw-product supplies are plentiful,” the NAPMN report states. It also says surplus spuds have been diverted to feedlots and “demand for early-harvested new crop potatoes is down.”
AgWest Farm Credit’s April 9 Market Update also expects steep acre cutbacks for potatoes.
“Potato growers are grappling with widespread challenges as processors implement substantial cuts to contracted acres,” the AgWest report states, noting that reductions across the Northwest “average around 10 percent, with some producers facing cuts as steep as 40 percent or greater.”
According to AgWest, potato contract prices are down by an average of 5 percent compared to last year.
“While some growers are looking for alternative uses for their unallocated land, options remain limited,” the AgWest report states.
NAPMN and AgWest both say that the reduction in contract acres could lead to an increase in open-market potatoes this year.
This could be a wild card this year when it comes to how many acres of potatoes growers actually end up planting.
“In addition to contract reductions, poor alternative crop prices could encourage growers to plant more open-market potatoes than normal,” NAPMN states. “Poor alternative crop prices might encourage growers to take the risk (of planting uncontracted potatoes), hoping that processors will need extra potatoes late in the processing season, or that they will be able to sell them in the table potato market.”
“The reduction in contract acres could lead to an increase in open market potatoes in 2025,” the AgWest market update states.
If the North American Potato Market News projection is correct, it would be the smallest U.S. potato acreage since 1952.
However, if average trendline yields are achieved, U.S. farmers would produce about 410 million hundredweight of spuds in 2025, which would exceed the size of the 2022 crop.
Idaho growers planted 330,000 acres of potatoes in 2023 and 295,000 in 2022. U.S. spud acreage was 966,000 in 2023 and 923,000 in 2022.
Idaho leads the nation in potato production and Gem State farmers typically produce about a third of the nation’s potato supply, or about 13-14 billion pounds.
While potato acreage is down due to a supply-demand imbalance, the good news is that farmers will still produce plenty of America’s favorite vegetable this year.
Potatoes USA tracks U.S. vegetable purchases each year.
“Potatoes are America’s favorite vegetable,” Potatoes USA Chief Marketing Officer Kim Breshears told Idaho farmers in November at the state’s annual Potato Harvest Meeting. “Consumers love our product.”
