Potato growers in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, are managing high storage volumes in mid-April following a warm winter and an unusually hot March, which are affecting product quality. Potatoes in storage are showing increased sprouting risk, creating challenges in meeting quality standards required for shipment.
"If a potato bin doesn't meet the quality standard, it doesn't ship," said Jeff McCullough of Spud Seller. "When we start to lose a bin, a bin can be 5,000 sacks, 10,000 sacks, up to 100,000 sacks … then we look at a really gigantic pile of potatoes that has to be managed."
Based on industry estimates, up to one million hundredweight, or about 100 million pounds (45,359 tons), of potatoes may not be sold or processed this season. Market conditions and supply levels are contributing to products remaining in storage across multiple production regions.
"A potato is a living organism. It generates its own heat. And so throughout the wintertime, we still have to push cold air and cool those potatoes down. Otherwise, those potatoes will generate heat, and once they generate enough heat, they'll sprout, then they won't meet a quality standard at all. There are a lot of instances where you lose an entire bin because the bin generates too much heat before you can get it sold."
The situation is compounded by reduced processing capacity following the closure of the Colorado Gourmet facility in Center, which previously handled about 40% of processed volume. The region now operates with one processing plant.
Potato acreage in the Valley increased to 51,474 hectares in 2025 from 50,188 hectares in 2024. However, market conditions are slowing product movement, with growers working to clear inventory ahead of the next harvest, which is expected to begin in early September.
"The next harvest will start roughly, the first of September, and so the ideal situation is we are out of this crop the day that we start harvesting the new crop," McCullough said.
Disposal of unsold potatoes must comply with the Colorado Seed Potato Act, requiring mechanical breakdown and spreading of material. Growers are engaging with local authorities to address disposal logistics.
"It is not one person that can swoop in and solve this," said Tara Artho of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee. "It's going to take the community."
Source: Alamosa Citizen
