Kern County potato acreage drops slightly
Kern County potato acreage drops slightly
Overall reported California new potato acreage in Kern County has dropped just slightly more than 1 percent to 9,213 acres planted in 2007 from 9,314 acres planted in 2006, according to published data from the Kern County Shippers Association.
One major Kern County packingshed does not publicly release its acreage and therefore is not included in the totals.
The Kern County spring-summer potato deal runs from May through July with no potato storage, and despite the 1 percent drop in reported acreage, at present growers have halted the pronounced loss of potato acreage Kern County has experienced in recent years. According to published data from the Kern County agricultural commissioner's office, the county's reported potato acreage was 8,842 for 2005, 10,922 for 2004 and 11,630 for 2003. The 2003 acreage compared to the 2005 acreage reflects a drop of nearly a quarter of the county's acreage. But this year's data show a 4 percent climb above the 2005 acreage, despite the loss of acreage from Bakersfield, CA- based D.M. Camp & Sons, once prominent in the Kern County deal. D.M. Camp & Sons did not have potato acreage in production as of the 2006 reporting season and does not have potato acreage in production again this year. That took roughly 700 to 800 acres of whites, reds and Yukons out of 2006 spring-summer potato production in Kern County.
Kern County has experienced increasing pressure on white potatoes from competing states resulting in the dwindling of the county's white potato acreage that has persisted for a number of years. According to data from the Kern County Shippers Association, white potato acreage for 2007 is 1,826, compared with 1,932 acres in 2006, a 5.5 percent drop.
California faces its stiffest competition from Wisconsin, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Maine. But there exists competition from numerous other states as well, such as Arizona, with reds, whites and golds.
Pete Thorne, whose Bakersfield-based Kern River Produce serves as the sales and marketing arm for C. Handel & Sons, said that red potato acreage in the county appears to be on the rise. Indeed, such is true for C. Handel & Sons and a number of the other growers in the Kern County deal. The Kern County Shippers Association reported a total of 2,047 acres of reds in 2007 compared with 1,886 acres in 2006, about a 7.5 percent rise. Russets slipped to 4,030 acres in 2007 from 4,208 acres in 2006, a 4 percent drop. At 1,310 acres in 2007, Yukons were up 1.5 percent over the 1,288 acres reported in 2006.
Mr. Thorne said that the January frost did not hurt the Edison area of Kern County. C. Handel & Sons begins shipping toward the end of May compared with the early players in the deal, which typically begin shipping in early May. Increased freight rates are putting a lot of pressure on California potato growers, too. It costs more than $9,000 per railcar to send potatoes from California to Hunts Point in New York City. Mr. Thorne said that he expects there will be a surcharge similar to last year of about 14-15 percent.
High transportation costs make shipping to markets east of the Mississippi River increasingly challenging, and suggest that the trend for growers in Kern County will be to grow less potato acreage. About two-thirds of potatoes grown in California are shipped out of state.
Charles Gilb, owner of Charles E. Gilb Co., the sales arm for Bidart Bros., said that a poor desert potato deal hammered by the January freeze created a little space from the end of that deal to the start of the Kern County deal. Bidart is also a late starter, beginning anytime from May 24 to May 28 with reds, whites and Yukons.
Mr. Gilb said that transportation costs are an increasing concern, noting that the cost of trucks traveling east is high and that with fuel at $3.29 a gallon, it becomes quite costly for trucks that get only 4.5 miles per gallon.
Wayne Kirschenman of Edison-based Kirschenman Enterprises said that the January freeze did not affect his potatoes. He told The Produce News April 24 that his company was just about finished with potatoes in the Imperial Valley and a week away from starting in Kern County. He said that the potato crop in Kern County "looks normal."
Regarding high transportation costs, Mr. Kirschenman said that the "buyer pays the bill but it reflects what we can get" for our potatoes.
One major Kern County packingshed does not publicly release its acreage and therefore is not included in the totals.
The Kern County spring-summer potato deal runs from May through July with no potato storage, and despite the 1 percent drop in reported acreage, at present growers have halted the pronounced loss of potato acreage Kern County has experienced in recent years. According to published data from the Kern County agricultural commissioner's office, the county's reported potato acreage was 8,842 for 2005, 10,922 for 2004 and 11,630 for 2003. The 2003 acreage compared to the 2005 acreage reflects a drop of nearly a quarter of the county's acreage. But this year's data show a 4 percent climb above the 2005 acreage, despite the loss of acreage from Bakersfield, CA- based D.M. Camp & Sons, once prominent in the Kern County deal. D.M. Camp & Sons did not have potato acreage in production as of the 2006 reporting season and does not have potato acreage in production again this year. That took roughly 700 to 800 acres of whites, reds and Yukons out of 2006 spring-summer potato production in Kern County.
Kern County has experienced increasing pressure on white potatoes from competing states resulting in the dwindling of the county's white potato acreage that has persisted for a number of years. According to data from the Kern County Shippers Association, white potato acreage for 2007 is 1,826, compared with 1,932 acres in 2006, a 5.5 percent drop.
California faces its stiffest competition from Wisconsin, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Maine. But there exists competition from numerous other states as well, such as Arizona, with reds, whites and golds.
Pete Thorne, whose Bakersfield-based Kern River Produce serves as the sales and marketing arm for C. Handel & Sons, said that red potato acreage in the county appears to be on the rise. Indeed, such is true for C. Handel & Sons and a number of the other growers in the Kern County deal. The Kern County Shippers Association reported a total of 2,047 acres of reds in 2007 compared with 1,886 acres in 2006, about a 7.5 percent rise. Russets slipped to 4,030 acres in 2007 from 4,208 acres in 2006, a 4 percent drop. At 1,310 acres in 2007, Yukons were up 1.5 percent over the 1,288 acres reported in 2006.
Mr. Thorne said that the January frost did not hurt the Edison area of Kern County. C. Handel & Sons begins shipping toward the end of May compared with the early players in the deal, which typically begin shipping in early May. Increased freight rates are putting a lot of pressure on California potato growers, too. It costs more than $9,000 per railcar to send potatoes from California to Hunts Point in New York City. Mr. Thorne said that he expects there will be a surcharge similar to last year of about 14-15 percent.
High transportation costs make shipping to markets east of the Mississippi River increasingly challenging, and suggest that the trend for growers in Kern County will be to grow less potato acreage. About two-thirds of potatoes grown in California are shipped out of state.
Charles Gilb, owner of Charles E. Gilb Co., the sales arm for Bidart Bros., said that a poor desert potato deal hammered by the January freeze created a little space from the end of that deal to the start of the Kern County deal. Bidart is also a late starter, beginning anytime from May 24 to May 28 with reds, whites and Yukons.
Mr. Gilb said that transportation costs are an increasing concern, noting that the cost of trucks traveling east is high and that with fuel at $3.29 a gallon, it becomes quite costly for trucks that get only 4.5 miles per gallon.
Wayne Kirschenman of Edison-based Kirschenman Enterprises said that the January freeze did not affect his potatoes. He told The Produce News April 24 that his company was just about finished with potatoes in the Imperial Valley and a week away from starting in Kern County. He said that the potato crop in Kern County "looks normal."
Regarding high transportation costs, Mr. Kirschenman said that the "buyer pays the bill but it reflects what we can get" for our potatoes.
