Associated Potato Growers experiencing ‘OK’ season
Associated Potato Growers experiencing ‘OK’ season
Despite several challenges, the fall red potato shipping for Associated Potato Growers Inc., is “going OK,” said Paul Dolan, manager of the Grand Forks, ND-based grower-packer-shipper.
“In the last couple of weeks” movement has picked up, he said Nov. 17. “Demand has picked up some.” But prices “are just OK. They are below last year by a couple of bucks, probably. We had to get down there to compete with russets.”
Retailers’ Thanksgiving ads were boosting business somewhat, but “cheaper russet prices” for small-size potatoes in Idaho were filling the bagged potato market and taking a lot of the ad space prior to Thanksgiving.
Red potato quality in the Red River Valley is “looking good,” Dolan indicated.
The red potato volume for Associated Potato is down about 15 percent from a year ago. But “our sheds’ percent of saleable product is higher than last year.”
The volume for the Red River Valley as a whole is up about one percent.
The pack-out rate is up because timely rains softened the Red River Valley soils before harvest, so the potatoes could come out of the ground without being harshly defaced by jagged clay.
Associated Potato’s size profile is “heavy to As, and Bs are just five to eight percent” of the total pack-out. Predictably, “the B market is hanging in there pretty well.”
Dolan’s greatest challenge was that truck supplies “are terrible” prior to Thanksgiving. Two local factors were contributing to a truck shortage. For one, November is deer hunting season in North Dakota and truckers would rather hunt than drive.
Furthermore, there is a large turkey production in the region and turkey shippers will pay any rate to get their birds to market before Thanksgiving.
There is no choice but to pay inflated truck rates and that is cutting into potato grower profits, Dolan said.
“A couple of our sheds” are using some rail service. Irregular “dependability on the rails” is what it is. We do not do enough business with the railroads to warrant first class service,” he noted.
“I just hope that after Thanksgiving the trucks loosen up,” he added.
Dolan said much of Associated Potato’s product is packed in private label brands.
He expects to ship until June. “That is about normal. Last year we shipped until the first part of July.”
Dolan noted that his firm has two new salesmen this fall.
Jeff Lazur of Reynolds, ND, joined Associated Potato Growers in the spring. Coincidentally, this coincided with the unexpected death of another Associated Potato salesman, James “JD” LeQuire. LeQuire apparently died of a heart attack.
In August, Matthew Kugler joined Associated Potato as a new salesman.
