Columbia Basin, Ephrata, WA | Boone & Crockett - 4/26/2024 10:11
So what’s the scoop here Ben? Potatoes actually so cheap the best option is give them away? And what’s the apples connotation? They super cheap also?
I don’t know all the details, just kind of the cliffs notes version. The potato market has been a bit unstable since the covid shutdowns in 2020. Last year the processors had a lot of production contracted already, and the yields were generally good so everyone had some extra. Last fall guys were being told that processors wouldn’t take any tonnage beyond their contracts. I think a lot of that excess got dug anyway and put in storage, hoping market conditions would change again since they’ve been so unstable for a few years, then things got worse this spring. Growers were told that there was zip, zero, nada chance of excess tons getting processed, and oh BtW, they were not taking all the contracted tons either. They paid for the contracted tons, so that was good, but it was up to the growers to get rid of the spuds. So that’s how you end up with dairies feeding potatoes bought so cheap they may or may not cover the trucking cost.
The apple situation I’m not as clear on, but it’s probably just a different verse of the same song. Perfectly good apples, unable to move through the regular markets. Some of the apples getting dumped were so far through the packing shed they already had the little sticker attached.
The only situation that might be worse at the moment is wine grapes.
Edited by Big Ben 4/26/2024 14:02
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