Southern growers gear up for sweet potato harvest

Fall is just around the corner, and growers in the Southern U.S. say they expect good quality when the sweet potato harvest gets underway.

Despite some early cold weather that delayed planting, Nashville, N.C.-based Nash Produce LLC will begin its harvest in early September and continue through early November as usual, said Robin Narron, marketing director and sales support.

“As of now, conditions are around normal for this time of the year,” she said in the second week of August.

Quality should be good this year, Narron said, but potato size won’t be known until harvesting begins. Pricing likely will be up this year compared to last year, since overall sweet potato acreage will be down, she said.

In 2022, U.S. sweet potato acreage was 132,200, down from 153,200 in 2021, according to USDA statistics.

Nash Produce offers four kinds of sweet potatoes — covington, organic covington, murasaki and bonita, Narron said.

The product line includes mesh carry bags, steamables and microwaveable sweet potatoes under the Mr. Yam label, she said. The company also offers private-label and custom packaging options.

Sweet potatoes are becoming a year-round superfood as consumers become more health-conscious, Narron said.

“With all the nutrients that sweet potatoes provide, they have become a top choice with consumers,” she said.

Garber Farms, Iota, La., plans to kick off its sweet potato harvest in mid-September, said partner Matt Garber. Then the curing process will take place, and shipments should begin in early October.

Garber was hoping for at least an average-size crop after last year’s smaller-than-normal harvest. The company, which grows beauregard and orleans sweet potato varieties, was still shipping last year’s crop out of storage in early August and aims for year-round availability, he said.

Harvesting usually starts in early September but was delayed this year because of dry weather. The good news is that dry weather usually lends itself to good quality, Garber said.

“Sweet potatoes are fairly resilient through a drought,” he said.

Garber Farms offers steamers and microwaveable sweet potatoes, and it packs in several box and pack sizes.

“We feel like we’re covering the bases,” he said.

Matthews Ridgeview Farms, Wynne, Ark., will start harvesting in late August or early September and finish in mid-October, said Autumn Campbell, sales manager.

“We have had some dry periods but also good rain,” she said. The region hasn’t had much rain, but that’s not a problem, she added. “Sweet potatoes do not need a whole lot of rain.”

The company expects to have a good-quality crop this year on its beauregard and orleans sweet potatoes as well as on its organic product, Campbell said.

Matthews Ridgeview Farms offers bags, microwavable singles, tray packs and steamer bags.

Sweet potatoes are becoming popular year-round as some consumers become more health-conscious and others simply prefer a sweet potato, she said.

Price increases for various inputs finally may be slowing, but sweet potato producers are still feeling the impact of inflation.

“All of our costs are up across the board,” Narron said.

“Some input costs have come off the highs, but all input costs are high,” Garber said. “They might not be at their peaks, but they’re still high.”

Sweet potatoes are overproduced worldwide, he said, so the market price has remained “steady to lower” for the past three or four years.

“We remain lean and efficient in order to stay competitive in this sweet potato industry,” he said.

The impact of inflation doesn’t seem to be subsiding at Matthews Ridgeview Farms, Campbell said. She expects to see some price changes since, “it costs more to operate across the board.”

Fortunately, higher prices have not prevented shoppers from picking up sweet potatoes, she said.

“Sales have been good and remained steady through slower parts of the year,” Campbell said.