Potato Market Data, Grades and Trade

Editorial evidence reviewedReviewed 2026-09-09Release 2026-09-19-batch-230

Market value

$85B

Producing countries tracked

9

Grading systems

1

Active supply risks

3

Trade corridors

3

Latest reviewed evidence

The figures below are USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates for the 2025 United States potato crop, published in January 2026. They are dated national crop measures—not global production, seed availability, a current physical offer or a live delivered price.

United States potato planted area

902

thousand acres · crop year 2025

United States potato harvested area

896.8

thousand acres · crop year 2025

United States potato yield

460

cwt per acre · crop year 2025

United States potato production

412.86

million cwt · crop year 2025

Table, chipping, processing and seed potatoes are separate products

Fresh table potatoes are traded by variety or type, grade, size, appearance and condition. Chipping and other processing potatoes add intended-product, solids, specific-gravity, sugar, fry-color and defect requirements. Peeled, dehydrated, frozen and preformed products sit at different processing stages. Certified seed potatoes are propagation material with distinct certification, generation, disease and phytosanitary evidence. Atlas retains intended use and product stage before comparing crop, grade, price or trade evidence.

Variety, size, grade, condition and storage travel with the lot

The cited USDA fresh-potato standard separates U.S. No. 1, U.S. Commercial and U.S. No. 2. U.S. No. 1 requires similar varietal characteristics unless a mixed or specialty pack is designated, firmness, cleanliness and shape, freedom from named diseases and breakdown, defect tolerances, and a minimum 1-7/8-inch diameter unless another size is specified. A comparable physical record therefore keeps the exact grade, inspection point, size basis, variety, crop and storage history, sprout and disease condition, pack and certificate context attached.

Crop totals do not determine a delivered potato price

USDA NASS estimated 412.86 million hundredweight of United States potato production from 896,800 harvested acres in 2025, averaging 460 hundredweight per acre. Those dated aggregates combine varieties, table and processing channels, grades, sizes, regions, storage states and contract structures. A delivered price still requires the exact product type, intended use, variety, grade, size, condition, storage and treatment history, pack, origin, destination, Incoterm, delivery window and current permitted physical evidence.

Questions procurement teams ask

Are table, chipping and processing potatoes interchangeable?

No. Intended use changes the relevant variety, size, solids or specific-gravity targets, sugar and fry-color requirements, appearance, defect tolerances and contract terms. The product channel must remain explicit.

Are seed potatoes covered by an ordinary table-potato specification?

No. Seed potatoes are propagation material and require certification, generation, disease and phytosanitary evidence beyond an ordinary food-market grade. The legacy seed-potatoes name resolves to the canonical potato record but does not erase that product boundary.

What does the 412.86 million hundredweight figure represent?

It is USDA NASS's estimate of total United States potato production for crop year 2025. It is a dated national crop measure, not global production and not a current physical price.

Which fields make physical potato offers comparable?

Intended use and product stage, variety or type, grade and inspection basis, diameter or weight size, firmness and shape, maturity and skin condition, sprouts, decay and disease tolerances, specific gravity or dry matter where relevant, crop year, storage and treatment history, package and net weight, origin, seed or phytosanitary certification where applicable, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and evidence date.