Pennsylvania: There's plenty of spuds, chip producers say

"We have all the potatoes we need,"said Miller, production supervisor at Gibble's Potato Chips in Chambersburg. Pennsylvania, with 19 potato chip manufacturers and a reputation as "the snack food capital of the world,"appears to have escaped the chipping potato shortage that affected producers elsewhere. "We have contracts for 90 percent of our potatoes and buy the rest on the open market. I don't know any companies having a problem getting potatoes,"he said. Springer said the national chipping potato problem began with a cold, wet planting season in January and February in North Carolina, one of the earliest states to harvest chipping potatoes. Then, flooding in the upper Midwest caused problems. "Missouri farmers planted late because of their cold, wet spring,"said Springer, who spent 20 years growing potatoes on his family's farm in Erie. "They had so much rain they lost 40 [percent] to 50 percent of total acres because of rot." That didn't have much impact on Pennsylvania chip makers;most had adequate supplies through contracts.