Idaho potato acres are projected to decrease by 15,000 acres this year compared with last year. That would be a five per cent drop if realized, from 315,000 acres in 2024 to 300,000 in 2025.

Total U.S. potato acres are forecast to fall by four per cent, dropping from 930,000 acres in 2024 to 891,000 acres in 2025. Those projections were made in the April 10 edition of the North American Potato Market News. The largest acreage reductions are expected in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Maine.

According to potato market news, all three of the major frozen potato processors made significant contract volume cuts for the 2025 crop. Those reductions ranged from five to 15 per cent and some growers were zeroed out completely. Hydrators have also reduced contracts, by 30 percent or more. 

“Raw-product supplies are plentiful,” the NAPMN report states. Surplus spuds have been diverted to feedlots and “demand for early-harvested new crop potatoes is down.”

AgWest Farm Credit’s April 9 Market Update also expects steep acre cutbacks for potatoes. 

“Potato growers are grappling with widespread challenges as processors implement substantial cuts to contracted acres,” the AgWest report states, noting that reductions across the Northwest “average around 10 per cent, with some producers facing cuts as steep as 40 per cent or greater.”

According to AgWest, potato contract prices are down by an average of five per cent compared to last year.NAPMN and AgWest both say that the reduction in contract acres could lead to an increase in open-market potatoes this year.

Idaho leads the U.S. in potato production. Gem State farmers typically produce about a third of the nation’s potato supply, or about 13-14 billion pounds.

Source:  Idaho Farm Bureau Federation April 18, 2025 news release