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.
With big volume every month of the year, North Carolina sweet potato growers boast the biggest share of orange vegetable supply, and it isn’t close. In 2020, North Carolina accounted for about two-thirds of total U.S. sweet potato truck shipments reported by the USDA, followed in importance by Mississippi (16%), California (11%) and Louisiana (6%).
North Carolina’s harvested sweet potato area in 2021 was 104,700 acres, producing yields of 175 cwt per acre and total production of 18.32 million cwt.
The combined fresh and processing crop had a unit value of $21.40 per cwt and a total value of $391.9 million.
The fresh market value of the crop in 2021 was $344 million, or about 88% of the North Carolina crop value; 12% of the crop value utilized by processors.
According to USDA shipment numbers from 2021, November is the top month for North Carolina sweet potatoes, accounting for 11.3% of total crop movement that year.
The percentage of the total North Carolina sweet potato crop shipped, by month, in 2021, according to the USDA:
- January: 8.5%
- February: 9.2%
- March: 10.5%
- April: 9.1%
- May: 10.6%
- June: 8.5%
- July: 5.8%
- August: 4.7%
- September: 5.6%
- October:7.2%
- November: 11.3%
- December: 8.6%
Stable markets
The stable volume from the state has resulted in stable prices, according to USDA numbers.
The fob average for North Carolina conventional sweet potatoes was $12.69 per carton in May 2022, up 1% from $12.55 per carton in January and 3% higher than $12.38 per carton a year ago.
The average U.S. terminal market price for conventional North Carolina sweet potatoes on April 30 was $20.55 per 40-pound carton, up 5% from $19.61 per carton at the beginning of January and 3% above $19.89 per carton at the same time a year ago.
Average fob price for North Carolina Sweet Potatoes
- May-21 $12.38
- Jun-21 $12.38
- Jul-21 $12.39
- Aug-21 $12.39
- Sep-21 $12.38
- Oct-21 $12.42
- Nov-21 $12.77
- Dec-21 $12.63
- Jan-22 $12.55
- Feb-22 $12.55
- Mar-22 $12.47
- Apr-22 $12.57
- May-22 $12.69
Source: USDA
