Fresh Summit creates visibility for Northern Plains Potato Growers Association
Fresh Summit creates visibility for Northern Plains Potato Growers Association
Ted Kreis, marketing director for the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association in East Grand Forks, MN, said the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit creates just the kind of visibility that gets Red River Valley potato growers noticed. “We have participated for 33 years, since 1979,” he told The Produce News on Dec. 7. “Of all the shows we do, we get the best participation at PMA from our shippers, which is very important.”
NPPGA was created in 1946 by a small group of growers who wanted to create unity within the industry. The growers self-funded the organization during its first year. “The NPPGA today has approximately 250 grower members,” the organization’s website states. “The NPPGA works for its potato growers in the areas of research, promotion and marketing, communication and legislation.”
Mr. Kreis said traffic to the organization’s booth was average this year. Visitors had an opportunity to learn more about the organization’s new logo and condition of this season’s crop.
This season the valley’s growers are moving their largest crop since 2008. “It would have been larger if we hadn’t lost 2,100 acres to frost late in the harvest,” Mr. Kreis commented. He said the effect was half-a-million hundredweight of potatoes.
The size profile was fairly typical for the region’s growers, and Mr. Kreis said quality was good, especially for potatoes going into storage after rain began falling during the harvest.
Movement has been good, and Mr. Kreis said he expects a fairly typical marketing year. If supplies continue to move at a brisk pace, he said, the crop could clean out a little early. “Some of our larger sheds always seem to have adequate supplies to ship until at least June 1,” he added.
Approximately 60 percent of the Red River Valley’s potatoes are shipped to the Eastern Seaboard.
