Large and growing price gap between small and large Russets in Idaho

Idaho is currently faces the unusual situation that big Russet potatoes are far more expensive than small Russets and the price gap is only increasing.

The big price gap between small and large russets isn’t going away anytime soon, grower-shippers said.

On Feb. 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported prices of $14-14.50 for 50-pound cartons of Idaho russets 40-70s, up from $8-8.50 last year at the same time.

By contrast, size-90 russets were $7, down from $8-8.50 last year.

“I don’t remember a time like this before,” said Mike Carter, chief executive officer of Rosholt, Wis.-based Bushmans’ Inc. “It’s pretty unusual.”

The cause is a dearth of large Idaho potatoes. Once Mother Nature told potatoes to stop growing last year, they obeyed, said Kevin Stanger, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Idaho Falls-based Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC.

“With the rain we had late in the summer, it just kind of turned the crop off,” Stanger said.

The main effect of the sizing issues in Idaho is the large number of consumer bags that will need to be marketed for the remainder of the year, said Randy Shell, vice president of marketing and new business development for RPE Inc., Bancroft, Wisconsin

“Retailers will see prices that will be promotable for the remainder of the season on 5- and 10-pound bags. For foodservice and bulk retail, large russets will continue to be in tight supplies and prices will likely continue to rise into the summer.”