The supply of sweet potatoes from Mississippi has improved over the fall season. "It looks really good," says Lindsey Edmondson at Topashaw Farms Packing. "At first we thought the crop was going to be short due to a lack of rain, but the hurricane (Francine) that came through gave us just the right amount to up the yield."
Harvest on the crop just finished earlier this week. "The timing looks similar to last year because it was really only rained out for maybe eight days from the start to the end of harvest. The dry weather was not the best for the potatoes but we got the rain when we needed it and were able to finish at about the same time as last year," says Edmondson.
Generally, sweet potato acreage is similar to last year in Mississippi–a state that produces a sweeter variety of sweet potatoes, the Mississippi Beauregard.
Strengthening demand ahead of Thanksgiving
As for demand, it's picking up, thanks in part to consumers becoming increasingly aware of the health effects linked to sweet potatoes. "Thanksgiving demand is about average and about the same as last year," says Edmondson, adding that following Thanksgiving, demand will likely ease somewhat for two weeks before it picks up again ahead of Christmas. The two holidays are notably when sweet potatoes see the strongest demand.
Meanwhile, pricing is down. "We try to get it up because the costs are up–everything is so expensive now," says Edmondson, adding that the ample supply coming from other sweet potato growing regions is making that challenging. "We are still in line with where pricing was last year at this time, maybe even slightly up to cover some costs."
For more information:
Lindsey Edmondson
Topashaw Farms Packing
Tel: +1 662) 682-7733
[email protected]
https://www.topashaw.com/