Heimbuch Potatoes purchases trucking company, reports stable yellow potato acreage

Heimbuch Potatoes has purchased a trucking company, said Chad Heimbuch, owner of the Cogswell, N.D.-based potato marketer.

The name of the trucking company, C & W Transfer, LLC, will remain the same. The company currently has 15 drivers, Heimbuch said.

Heimbuch Potatoes, growing only yellow potatoes, has about the same acreage as a year ago. The general industry trend in the Red River Valley toward increased planting of yellow potatoes is likely to continue in the next five years, he said.

Market outlook

Market prospects are good, Heimbuch said, but perhaps with prices slightly lower than anticipated.

“Prices seem to be less than what we were expecting and hoping for,” he said. “With the increase in the cost of production we were hoping we could push the market a little higher.” That may come later in the season, he said. 

Even at elevated prices compared with some years, Heimbuch said potatoes are the cheapest per pound item in the produce aisle.

USDA reported the average price for all Red River Valley potatoes on Oct. 1 was $19.97 per carton, up from $16.25 per carton the same time a year ago, but well off the mid-August highs of $27 per carton.