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# Columbia Basin potato prices

Shipping point FOB prices and shipment volume for Columbia Basin, USDA reports

_Data through Aug 27, 2026 · source last checked Aug 28, 2026 · page revised Aug 28, 2026_

> Mostly $18.00/50 lb carton, 13% above the 5-yr median. Comparison midpoint: $18.00/50 lb carton.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | $18.00/50 lb carton | $17.00/50 lb carton | +5.9% |
| Month over month | $18.00/50 lb carton | $14.50/50 lb carton | +24.1% |
| Year over year | $18.00/50 lb carton | $15.00/50 lb carton | +20.0% |
| vs 5-yr median | $18.00/50 lb carton | $16.00/50 lb carton | +12.5% |

## About Columbia Basin potato prices

The Columbia Basin origin combines two USDA reporting districts into one: the Columbia Basin of central Washington and the Umatilla Basin across the river in northeastern Oregon. Together they are one of the country's largest russet regions and, like Idaho, a heavy processing area, with much of the crop contracted to fry and dehydration plants at prices nobody publishes, so the fresh tablestock quotes here are a slice of a much bigger crop.

Every quote this site has on record for the Columbia Basin is a russet, sold mostly in 50 lb cartons by count, with baled consumer bags and 50 lb sacks behind it. It is a storage region, digging in the fall and shipping fresh cartons out of controlled-atmosphere cellars across most of the year rather than in one short season, the pattern it shares with [Idaho](/origin/idaho), the San Luis Valley and Wisconsin. Movement reported simply as "Washington" in USDA's daily movement data folds into this origin. Read it against the other three storage regions on the [russet page](/variety/russet) rather than against a fresh-crop origin.

**Season.** Columbia Basin potatoes typically ship February through October, based on where USDA movement volumes concentrate over the year. Outside that window fresh shipping point quotes thin out, which is normal crop rotation, not a data gap.

## About this data

- Source: USDA AMS shipping point potato FOB reports (FV130) and Daily Movement (FV170)
- Series: Potato FOB price at a benchmark variety, pack and size
- Basis: FOB shipping point, low-high range
- Geography: Columbia Basin
- Unit: $/50 lb carton
- Last observation: Aug 27, 2026
- Update frequency: USDA reports on business days

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Cite: Columbia Basin potato FOB prices are 13% above their 5-yr median for the date (USDA shipping point reports). The Russet Report, data through Aug 27, 2026. https://therussetreport.com/origin/columbia-basin
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