Spudman July/August 2022 - 8

A shift
in
trends
Newly selected Potatoes USA chairman
shares some insight
Jason Davenport in an Allied
Potato storage warehouse.
Photos: Matt Hannon
By Crystal Nay
MANAGING EDITOR
J
ason Davenport has a unique view
of the potato industry. Founder and
president of California-based Allied
Potato, Davenport is a fifth-generation
farmer and was elected the 2022-2023
chairman of Potatoes USA after several
years on the board. He's involved in
multiple agriculture and export-related
organizations, and was invited to speak
at the World Potato Congress in Dublin,
Ireland, this past May.
Being heavily involved in the industry
has allowed him to see a shift in trends,
including the whiplash effect in potato
demand - a softening of demand
due to the pandemic, followed by an
immediate strengthening as lockdowns
eased and a new pressure was put on
supply chains and infrastructure.
" It has really shown how inadequate
our supply chain is, because we're
not able to ship the products we
need to as farmers. We're impacted
by that, and then our costs went up, "
said Davenport.
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Spudman.com
Fuel, fertilizers, chemicals, labor
and electricity have all seen dramatic
increases.
" That's a really troubling thing for a
lot of people to have to deal with right
now. But, global demand for potatoes
is pretty strong, " he said.
Part of this is due to unforeseen
circumstances, such as the RussiaUkraine
war, which limited the
amount of food production coming
out of Ukraine, and prices of
fertilizers coming from Russia.
Davenport anticipates this
continuing to have a large impact on
the world's food supply over the next
12-15 months, and possibly longer, and
the effects will be seen in potatoes.
When demand is high, growers
find a way to meet that demand by
increasing yield or planting more
acres. But with costs also high, growers
seem to have less of an appetite to
chase this demand by planting more
potatoes. All aspects of production are
coming under the microscope, with
decisions being made accordingly.
Why plant more potatoes when other
crops require less and can still make
reasonable returns?
" Sometimes, optimizing your
farm is the better way to go, and not
planting more and operating in the
more expensive category - just a more
optimized view of the way you run
your farm, " Davenport said. " That's
what we're doing (at Allied Potato). "
EXERCISING CAUTION
From Europe to Australia to North
America, Davenport noted a common
understanding felt throughout the
industry's growers - everyone is
exercising caution in going forward,
planting exactly what they need as
closely as possible.
Market observations can't predict
grower behaviors as a whole, and
the general hesitancy felt within the
industry may not accurately reflect
how everything plays out for growers.
But the summer and fall market
reports may suggest what Davenport
thinks is happening in the field: There
aren't massive numbers of acres being
planted to potato.
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Spudman July/August 2022

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