Another good year due for Red River Valley potatoes

Potato growers in the Red River Valley — a stretch of rich, dark soil that runs from North Dakota, Minnesota and into Manitoba — are predicting an average-size crop this year with the usual high-quality red and yellow potatoes the region is known for producing.

Edinburg, N.D.-based Halls G4 LLP was nearly halfway through its harvest by the third week of September, said partner Jackson Hall.

“The quality looks nice,” he said. “We’re happy with the size profile.”

Digging started Sept. 8, a little earlier than last year. Halls ships red and yellow potatoes from October until April.

Although the region is known for its red spuds, growers have been replacing some red potato acreage with yellow potatoes in response to consumer demand, Hall said.

O.C. Schulz & Sons Inc., Crystal, N.D., started harvesting during the second part of September, said Dave Moquist, an owner of the company.

“So far, it looks like really good quality and at least average yields,” he said. “I think we’ll have our storage fairly full.”

Growing conditions were “pretty unique” this year, he said. “It seemed like we had one week of spring, then it went right to summer.”

A good residual snow cover provided some moisture early on, but the weather was mostly dry in June, he said.

Some heavy rain fell in late June, but the rest of the summer remained dry until Labor Day. Conditions were “ideal” by mid-September, though, and sizing was good, he said.

The company, which offers three varieties of red potatoes and four kinds of yellows, ships from October until early May.

Potatoes harvested at Ben Holmes Potato Inc., Becker, Minn., will go into storage until around the second week of October, when they’ll undergo washing and then distribution, said owner Kevin Olson. Volume will be down by 50,000 hundredweight — or 5 million pounds — at the company because of a fire at one of the firm’s shippers, Spokely Farms, Nielsville, Minn.

Ben Holmes Potato ships year-round with limited volume in May, June and July. The company offers red norland, dark red norland, chieftan and some yellow potatoes.

Growing conditions were “pretty good for the most part,” but there were some dry conditions late in the season, Olson said.

“I think our yields are going to be better than expected, given the dry conditions that they had,” he said. “Quality looks good, as it always does.”

Mike Rerick, vice president of sales for Nokota Packers Inc., Buxton, N.D., was pleased with how the harvest was shaping up.

“From what we see and from talking with other guys in the valley, qualitywise, it’s probably the best we’ve seen overall in the last five or six years,” he said.

Yields and size profile on red and yellow potatoes look “really good,” he said, and he expected volume at Nokota Packers to be up significantly compared to recent years, which were plagued by frosts and other challenges.

“We’ve had everything happen to us over the last few years on the south side [of the Red River Valley],” Rerick said. “It will be very nice to have a nice, full shed again.”

Sheds have been only 60% full recently because of the weather challenges.

Potato prices this year could be lower than last season because of heavy supplies of russets throughout the U.S. and Canada, Olson said.

During the past couple of years, when russet supplies were tight and prices were relatively high, other varieties also enjoyed higher prices, he said. But this year, there will be large amounts of russets available from Washington, Idaho and Colorado, so prices have been dropping.

“That does put the other colors down as far as market goes,” he said.

The only exception is the increasingly popular yellow variety, Olson said.

Rerick said the low potato prices are “frustrating.”

“It’s hard because we’re selling potatoes today for less than we did 15 or 20 years ago,” he said. “Everything else in this world has gone up in price but potatoes.”

But he said he expected consumers to continue to put potatoes into their shopping carts because they’re one of the best values in the grocery store.

Red River Valley farmers take pride in their growing region and in the quality of their potatoes.

The fact that they’re grown in dryland has a lot to do with that.

“That’s very unique in the growing areas across the U.S.,” said Donavon Johnson, president of the Northland Potato Growers Association, East Grand Forks, Minn.

“The other areas are all irrigated, so they have a little bit more water in their potatoes,” he said. “We have more solids in ours.”

The rich, nutrient-packed soils hold the moisture, “and they produce a very tasty potato,” he said.

The Red River Valley is the largest growing region of red potatoes in the country, Olson said. “It’s pretty hard to beat a Red River Valley red potato for flavor and taste.”

Growers in the valley also produce high-quality yellow potatoes, Moquist added.

“I like to think we have the best potatoes in U.S.,” he said.