What affects the price of potatoes?

Question

What affects the price of potatoes?

Answer 1

supply and demand

Answer 2

I live in the very heartland of potato country.  As others have already posted, supply and demand affect the cost, but there are many, many other things.

Right now, potato planting should be in full swing.  Yet we are having an extremely late spring planting season.  It snowed just four days ago.  

The ground is too wet and too cold to plant potatoes yet.  If it keeps up, farmers will give up and plant another crop, like wheat, so there will be fewer potatoes due to the late spring.

Last year, we had serrious heat, coupled with the 6th year of drought right at the tail end of when the potatoes mature....then it rained.  Because of that many of the potatoes grew in odd shapes, and then split when the rain hit.  

That ment many fewer number one baker potatoes, which the farmers recieve the best price for.

Farmers are having a problem with nematodes.  That means taking those fields out of potato production.  The fields that become infested with nematodes rot, and become a near total loss for the farmer.  Besides, nobody will accept the infested potatoes, as it will contaminate their equipment.  

Also of course outside factors affect the price of potatoes.  When the Atkins Diet book,  which is meat based, and shuns all carbs hit the shelves, potatoes dropped in price like a stone, because nobody was eating them (or bread).

Now with the price of fuel being so high, and the cost of fertilizer being much higer, the price of potatoes will also climb.

The only good thing is, potatoes are not a commodity, so trading on the Stock Market will not drive them higher in price.  Commodities are something which may be stored long term.  Wheat can be stored for years...even hundreds of years if done properly.  Oil can be left unrefined, and will store for years.

Potatoes have a life of about one year...then they rot.  So they are not a commodity.

Hope this answered your question.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 3

weather and disease

Answer 4

READ ADAM SMITH HE MAKES IT CLEAR. BUT AS SOMEONE HAS ALREADY SAID IT'S SUPPLY AND DEMAND. THE FEWER POTATOES THERE ARE THE HIGHER THE PRICE AND THE MORE POTATOES THERE ARE THE LOWER THE PRICE.

Answer 5

demand + production+deliverycost=cost