Supplies of sweet potatoes out of Louisiana continue to be tight.
“They’re tight because of the rains we had last fall,” notes Matt Garber of Iota, La.-based Garber Farms, whose farms are located between Bayou Nezpique and Bayou Des Cannes in South Louisiana’s Cajun country. The rains Garber refers to are the consistent rains the region received roughly every two to four days from September to December 2018 which caused no flooding, but consistently wet ground.
Garber notes that managing the shortness of the sweet potato crop has been the biggest challenge by far this season for growers. “Demand is always steady for sweet potatoes. It’s enough of an ingrained item nowadays so there’s just a good, steady, constant demand at almost any time of year for sweet potatoes,” he says. “And there’s room for more growth too.”
Garber Farms' Michael Garber, who handles farm crop production.
Easter run up
He also adds that even with the consistent demand for the commodity, there are holiday spikes. “Around Thanksgiving, the demand gets astronomical,” he says. “Easter is also a big holiday that has a big pull for sweet potatoes.”
He also notes that the main thing consumers are looking for is more information about the nutritional aspect of sweet potatoes. “We saw a study showing that’s what increased demand for them. So we just need to get the stores to highlight that,” adds Garber.
Meanwhile with the shorter supply, prices are higher than last year on sweet potatoes. “But I don’t see the pricing reflective of the shortness of the crop yet though,” he adds.
For more information:
Matt Garber
Garber Farms
Tel: +1-337-824-6328
matt@garberfarm.com
www.garberfarm.com