Overview

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are the fourth most important food crop in the world and the leading vegetable crop in the United States. Together, Idaho and Washington produce more than half of the annual supply, which totaled 404.2 million cwt in 2010, down seven percent from the previous year, and was valued at $3.5 billion, up five percent. The average price rose in 2010, while yield per acre declined.

Nearly 60 percent of potato sales are to processors for French fries, chips, dehydrated potatoes and other potato products. The remainder goes to the fresh market, is fed to farm animals or re-used as seed tubers for growing the next season’s crop.  (ERS)  April 2012 ... Potatoes

Marketing

• Canned Potatoes, Vegetables and Melons Outlook, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA, 2009.
• Enhancing Producer Returns: United Potato Growers of America, ARE Update, University of California, 2008 - United Potato Growers of America, a federation of regional cooperatives, was formed in 2005 to stabilize and increase grower prices.
• U.S. per Capita Food Availability, ERS, USDA.
• Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS), Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA.
• Idaho Center for Potato Research and Education, University of Idaho.
• Idaho Potato Commission.
• International Potato Center.
• National Potato Council.
• New Light on a Hidden Treasure, Food and Ag Organization, United Nations, 2008 - This illustrated book emphasizes the vital role that potatoes play in the global food system, providing the most recent FAO statistics on world potato production and consumption as well as profiles of 52 major potato-producing countries.
• North American Potato Market News.
• The Potato Association Of America.
• Potato Chips, ERS, USDA, 2008 - Explains how potatoes consumed as potato chips are largely produced and consumed domestically, with relatively small volumes traded internationally.
• Potatoes, ERS, USDA.
• Potatoes, Vegetable and Melons Outlook, ERS, USDA - This article presents the latest market outlook for the U.S. potato market, including fall harvest production, trade outlook, a review of 2010 production and price and shipment information.
• Potatoes, Dole Reference Center Encyclopedia.
• Potatoes Annual Summary, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA.
• Specialty Potato Alliance - A group of fingerling potato growers and distributors, located throughout the United States, are committed to growing and packing the finest potatoes possible.
• United Potato Growers of America.
• United States Potato Board.
• Vegetables and Melons Yearbook Data, ERS, USDA.
  

 Production

• Commercial Potato Production - Organic and Pesticide Free Production, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Canada, 2003.
• Florida Potato Crop/Pest Management Profile, 2008.
• Fresh Market Potatoes, Sample Cost of Production, University of California Cooperative Extension, 2008.
• Potato, Postharvest Technology Research and Information Center, University of California, Davis.
• Potato Education Guide website, University of Nebraska.
• Potato Information Exchange, Oregon State University.
• Potato Storage Management - Storage Structures and Ventilation, Western Potato Council, Canada, 2005.
• Potatoes, Vegetable Research and Information Center, University of California Cooperative Extension.
• United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes, Ag Marketing Service, USDA, 2008.

Businesses/Case Studies

• Okray Farms, Plover, Wisconsin - These farms have been raising potatoes for 100 years. This article profiles how their business has changed to meet consumer's changing needs and desires.
• Potatoes, The New American Farmer, Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education, NIFA, USDA - Describes two potato-growing operations in the United States.
• Royal Treatment, Rural Cooperatives magazine, USDA Rural Development, 2009 - Rhode Island farmers join forces to market RI Royal brand potatoes.
   

Links checked April 2012.