Origins
Near normalWisconsin potato prices
Shipping point FOB prices and shipment volume for Wisconsin, USDA reports
Data through Nov 3, 2026 · source last checked Nov 4, 2026 · page revised Nov 4, 2026
Cite
- Central Wisconsin
- 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
- Wisconsin
- Unit
- $/50 lb carton
- Last observation
- Nov 3, 2026
- Update frequency
- USDA reports on business days
$15.50-16.50/50 lb carton, 8% above the 5-yr median. Comparison midpoint: $16.00/50 lb carton.
Wisconsin potatoes mostly $15.50-16.50, 50 lb carton, are 8% above the 5-yr median. Central Wisconsin held at $16.00/50 lb carton week over week. Year over year, prices are up 30.6% from $12.25/50 lb carton.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | $16.00/50 lb carton | $16.00/50 lb carton | 0.0% |
| Month over month | $16.00/50 lb carton | n/a | n/a |
| Year over year | $16.00/50 lb carton | $12.25/50 lb carton | +30.6% |
| vs 5-yr median | $16.00/50 lb carton | $14.75/50 lb carton | +8.5% |
Previous weeks
An earlier week
Wisconsin russets mostly $15.50-16.50, 50 lb carton, up 30.6% year over year and 8% above the 5-year median. Week over week the market is flat.
Week of Oct 30, 2026
Wisconsin russets, 50 lb carton, quoted $15.50-16.50 on 2026-10-30, are 8% above the 5-year median. Prices held week-over-week. Year-over-year the market has gained 30.6%.
An earlier week
Wisconsin russets at $15.50-16.50, 50 lb carton, are 8% above the 5-year median. Year over year, prices are up 30.6%.
An earlier week
Wisconsin cartons held at $15.50-16.50 per 50 lb carton, 8% above the five-year median. Year over year, the market climbed 30.6%, up from $12.25 per 50 lb carton.
About Wisconsin potato prices
Wisconsin's potatoes come from the central sands region, the irrigated sandy soils around Stevens Point, Plover and Antigo. Unlike the West's three big storage regions, Wisconsin is not a single-variety district: on this site about two-thirds of its recorded quotes are russets, with reds and yellows filling out the rest, so it is the one storage origin where a buyer can find all three main tablestock colors in one place.
Packing follows the variety: russets mostly ship in 50 lb cartons graded by count, while the reds and yellows lean more on baled consumer bags and 50 lb sacks. Wisconsin digs in the fall like Idaho, the Columbia Basin and the San Luis Valley, and ships fresh cartons out of storage over months rather than a short season. For the russet share, compare Wisconsin with the other storage regions on the russet page; for its reds and yellows, see red and yellow.
Wisconsin potatoes by the sack. Wisconsin quoted two kinds of 50 lb sack on Nov 3, 2026, from $14.50-15.50/50 lb sack for Size A reds to $16.00-18.50/50 lb sack for Size A yellows. Per pound that runs from $0.29-0.31/lb to $0.32-0.37/lb, and per 60 lb bushel from $17.40-18.60 to $19.20-22.20. 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 Wisconsin'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. Wisconsin potatoes typically ship July through February, 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 Wisconsin potatoes?
Wisconsin Size A reds in 50 lb cartons sold for $15.50-16.50/50 lb carton ($31.00-33.00/cwt, $0.31-0.33/lb) FOB at the shipping point on Nov 3, 2026, per USDA shipping point reports. The same day, Wisconsin quoted Size A yellows in 50 lb cartons at $17.00-19.50/50 lb carton, Size A reds in 50 lb sacks at $14.50-15.50/50 lb sack and Size A reds in 10×5 lb bales at $16.00-16.50/10×5 lb bale. These are wholesale prices for potatoes loaded at the packing shed, before freight, not grocery prices.
How do Wisconsin potato prices compare with last year?
At range midpoints, the red Size A 50 lb carton is $16.00/50 lb carton, up 31% from $12.25/50 lb carton a year earlier and 8% above its 5-yr median of $14.75/50 lb carton for the date.
Why do Wisconsin potato prices change?
Wisconsin 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 (Nov 4, 2025) to $16.00/50 lb carton (Oct 26, 2026), and it changed on 1 of its 29 report days; the biggest one-day move was +$3.75/50 lb carton on Oct 26, 2026. What moves potato prices covers the supply side in more depth.
How many potatoes does Wisconsin ship?
USDA's Daily Movement reports logged 7.2 million cwt of fresh Wisconsin potato shipments in the 12 months to Nov 2, 2026, across 248 report days, 22% more than the 12 months before. By type, that volume was 81% russet, 11% yellow and 7% red. The latest day on record, Nov 2, 2026, logged 36,514 cwt. A hundredweight (cwt) is 100 lb.