Mississippi sweet potato growers are preparing to plant the 2019 crop by the end of the week. The region has experienced a moderate amount of rain in the past few weeks which has prepared the ground well. Despite the rain, there have been no delays reported.
"Between here and North Carolina, we have been receiving quite a lot of rain," noted Trey Boyette of SMP Southeast Marketing. "The beds are looking healthy and we should start planting by the end of this week. Planting will begin largely on schedule as we have not experienced any problems or delays."
Storage supplies tightening up
Sweet potato suppliers are noticing a tightening of product availability heading into summer. It's expected that supplies will most likely last until the new crop begins, however the market can expect to see higher prices and buyers that have not secured contracts might find it hard to source sweet potatoes from any of the growing regions.
"We are still shipping our 2018 crop," Boyette said. "The quality is good but supplies are tightening up. We will be close to making it to the new crop but supplies will be hard to come by during June, July and August. The market is trending upwards as each state begins to manage their inventories. Quality is holding up well and we should end the season well in that regard. Pretty soon we will close up orders to ensure we have sufficient supply for our customers until the new crop begins."
Beauregard the Mississippi staple
Each state seems to have its signature sweet potato variety and for Mississippi, it's the Beauregard. This variety is favored by growers for high yields of uniform, reddish-purple potatoes with deep-orange flesh that keeps well in storage. But it's not the only sweet potato variety available in the region.
"Mississippi primarily grows the Beauregard sweet potato but we are also working on Orleans as well as some Evangeline," Boyette shared. "However, the Beauregard is the main staple here. It's a good quality shipping potato and it also tastes and looks great."
He added that the company is also increasing its organic supply and has some new packaging options. "We are increasing our organic supply due to greater demand. We have also started offering a 4ct over-wrap tray as well as 5lb bags. Our sweet potatoes are distributed all over the country and we have reached out to California and Arizona this year after expanding to the Northeast."
For more information:
Trey Boyette
SMP Southeast Marketing, Inc.
Ph: +1 (662) 682-9575
smptater@yahoo.com
www.smpsoutheast.com