Origins
Well above normalRed River Valley potato prices
Shipping point FOB prices and shipment volume for Red River Valley, USDA reports
Data through Nov 3, 2026 · source last checked Nov 4, 2026 · page revised Nov 4, 2026
Cite
- Red River Valley (MN-ND)
- USDA mostly / low-high range
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
- Red River Valley
- Unit
- $/50 lb carton
- Last observation
- Nov 3, 2026
- Update frequency
- USDA reports on business days
$16.00-18.00/50 lb carton, 28% above the 5-yr median. Comparison midpoint: $17.00/50 lb carton.
Red River Valley potatoes mostly $16.00-18.00, 50 lb carton, eased 50 cents on the week. The market stands 28% above the 5-year median.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | $17.00/50 lb carton | $17.50/50 lb carton | -2.9% |
| Month over month | $17.00/50 lb carton | n/a | n/a |
| Year over year | $17.00/50 lb carton | $13.25/50 lb carton | +28.3% |
| vs 5-yr median | $17.00/50 lb carton | $13.25/50 lb carton | +28.3% |
Previous weeks
An earlier week
Red River Valley russets $17.00-18.00, 50 lb carton, hold at $17.50 on the week, 32% above the five-year median and up 32.1% on the year.
Week of Oct 30, 2026
Red River Valley russets are $17.00-18.00, 50 lb carton, 32% above the 5-year median. Prices held flat on the week, but are up 32% year over year.
An earlier week
Red River Valley mostly $17.00-18.00, 50 lb carton, up 32% on the year and running 32% above the 5-year median of $13.25. The market held flat on the week with no change from the prior level.
An earlier week
Red River Valley russets are priced $17.00-18.00, 50 lb carton, up 34.6% year over year. The current range sits 32% above the 5-year median. Week-over-week prices held flat.
About Red River Valley potato prices
The Red River Valley straddles northwest Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, and it is the country's anchor red-potato growing region, the origin the red variety page is read against more than any other. On this site every quote recorded for the valley is a red or a yellow; it has never quoted a russet.
Unlike the West's carton-heavy storage regions, the valley's reds and yellows ship in whatever mix the buyer wants: 50 lb sacks, 2,000 lb bulk totes and 50 lb cartons all carry meaningful volume here, with no one pack dominant. The valley digs in the fall and ships out of storage into the following year, so, like the western russet regions, it is a storage origin rather than a short fresh-crop window, just for reds and yellows instead of russets. USDA movement data reported as "North Dakota" folds into this origin. Because red and yellow acreage nationally is much smaller than russet acreage, a short crop or a slow start here can move the valley's FOB prices harder, in percentage terms, than the same kind of news moves an Idaho or Columbia Basin quote.
Red River Valley potatoes by the sack. Red River Valley quoted four kinds of 50 lb sack on Nov 3, 2026, from $6.00-9.50/50 lb sack for US No. 2 Size A reds to mostly $18.00-19.50/50 lb sack for Size B reds. Per pound that runs from $0.12-0.19/lb to $0.36-0.39/lb, and per 60 lb bushel from $7.20-11.40 to $21.60-23.40. The 50 lb sack price calculator converts any of these quotes per sack, pound, bushel and hundredweight, and potato sack prices by origin sets them against the other districts.
Against the national benchmark. The quotes on this page are Red River Valley's alone. For the single figure the trade quotes as the market, potato prices today follows Idaho's 70-count russet carton per carton, per hundredweight, per pound and per potato, with the date of USDA's latest quote.
Season. Red River Valley potatoes typically ship October through March, 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.
Common questions
What is the current price of Red River Valley potatoes?
Red River Valley Size A reds in 50 lb cartons sold for $16.00-18.00/50 lb carton ($32.00-36.00/cwt, $0.32-0.36/lb) FOB at the shipping point on Nov 3, 2026, per USDA shipping point reports. The same day, the Red River Valley quoted Size A yellows in 50 lb cartons at $15.00-19.00/50 lb carton, Size A reds in 50 lb sacks at $14.00-16.00/50 lb sack and Size A reds in bulk totes at $24.00-28.00/cwt. These are wholesale prices for potatoes loaded at the packing shed, before freight, not grocery prices.
How do Red River Valley potato prices compare with last year?
At range midpoints, the red Size A 50 lb carton is $17.00/50 lb carton, up 28% from $13.25/50 lb carton a year earlier and 28% above its 5-yr median of $13.25/50 lb carton for the date.
Why do Red River Valley potato prices change?
The Red River Valley ships out of storage for most of the year, so its price moves in steps through the storage season as shippers and buyers read how much is left in the cellars and how it is keeping, and the new crop sets the next level once digging starts. In the 12 months to Nov 3, 2026, the red Size A 50 lb carton midpoint ran from $12.25/50 lb carton (Dec 8, 2025) to $17.50/50 lb carton (Oct 19, 2026), and it changed on 5 of its 157 report days; the biggest one-day move was +$5.25/50 lb carton on Oct 19, 2026. What moves potato prices covers the supply side in more depth.
How many potatoes does the Red River Valley ship?
USDA's Daily Movement reports logged 2.6 million cwt of fresh Red River Valley potato shipments in the 12 months to Nov 2, 2026, across 173 report days, 20% more than the 12 months before. By type, that volume was 59% red and 41% yellow. The latest day on record, Nov 2, 2026, logged 21,926 cwt. A hundredweight (cwt) is 100 lb.