Wynne, Ark.-based Matthews Ridgeview Farms is the state’s largest grower/shipper of sweet potatoes, and the firm is expanding acreage again this year, says sales manager Autumn Campbell.

Peebles Organic, Augusta, Ark., is a USDA-certified organic vegetable operation that farms about 2,000 acres, said Shawn Peebles, owner and general manager.

South Carolina and North Carolina are a powerful one-two punch for U.S. watermelon availability.

Part of that hard-won dominance is due to the state’s perfect combination of soils and temperatures that sweet potatoes need, says the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

North Carolina’s potato growers will deliver big volume of fresh and chipping potatoes this summer for a relatively short marketing period.

To put the magnitude of North Carolina’s sweet potato crop in context, picture more than 13,000 refrigerated truckloads lining up to distribute the crop all across the U.S.