California is underway with spring crop new potatoes.
“We started locally here the first week of May which was maybe a few days early and we’ll go right through to the middle of July,” says John Clerou with the Mazzei Franconi Co. based in Bakersfield, California.
Clerou says the crop looks good with strong quality on red, white and yellow potatoes. “As far as acreage goes, we’re about more or less the same as we were last year. Supplies are good as we build momentum this season. Early in the season the crop is always a bit lighter because it’s early. But within the next week or two we should see crops get to normal yields there,” he says.
Storage crop ending early
The season starts as the storage crop business in the U.S. seems to be slowing down. “There’s a bit of a gap with the supply of the old crop. The storage states are winding down a bit early. The Pacific Northwest is more or less done with their colored potatoes so that’s really opened up the West Coast for us,” he says, noting California competes with Florida on new crop spring potatoes. However he says the pipelines are fairly open with many customers looking for new crop potatoes.
Meanwhile as for pricing, Clerou notes that pricing is strong on all three colors of potatoes. “So we anticipate maintaining and holding those prices throughout the season,” he says.
Photo: Dreamstime
For more information:
John Clerou
Mazzei Franconi Co.
Tel: +1 (661) 366-5721