It is estimated that we had approximately 89,000 acres planted in Canada intended for the fresh sector, generating approximately 29.6 million potatoes available for fresh sales.
In North America, we continue to see a trend from red to yellow, which has the effect of improving yields and increasing production, even if acreage remains stable.
With the surplus in the United States, prices have dropped significantly in the U.S., however they have been holding well so far in Canada, although there have been more recent reports of continued
downward pressure.
Idaho is trying to recover lost table market sales after two years of shortages, especially for russets - and we've seen this in very aggressive pricing since September. These very low prices in the Pacific Northwest could lead to a drop in Canadian exports to the U.S. compared to last year.
We continue to monitor surplus potatoes in the processing sector that could be dumped into the fresh sector, there have not yet been any significant reports of this type of movement however it is early in
the marketing year.