California new potato crop finding good demand

The two big stories out of California’s Kern County potato deal this year are that there is a fairly good market and there are no russet potatoes. The russet deal, which was the core of the California fresh potato industry for decades, has been in decline for 20 years and finally it is no more. A survey of the acreage revealed no russet acreage this year. For the past three years it has been below 1,000 acres, which is a far cry from its relatively recent peak of 8,600 acres in 1996. Instead, growers have focused on red, gold and white potatoes with the gold variety showing the most gain in recent years. This season, the golds are up about 20 percent with an additional 300 acres, bringing that item’s acreage above the 1,800-acre level. Reds still lead the way with more than 2,000 acres, followed by the white rose potato at about 1,100 acres. More