Current price
Well above normalCurrent potato prices
Idaho russet Norkotah potatoes in 70-count 50 lb cartons are quoted at mostly $23.00 per 50 lb carton FOB as of Oct 16, 2026 (USDA), the fresh market's trade benchmark.
Data through Oct 16, 2026 · source last checked Oct 17, 2026 · page revised Oct 17, 2026
Cite
- Comparison midpoint
- USDA mostly / low-high range
About this data
- Source
- USDA AMS shipping point potato FOB reports (FV130)
- Series
- Russet Norkotahs, 70-count 50 lb cartons, Upper Valley Idaho, FOB
- Basis
- FOB shipping point, low-high range
- Geography
- Upper Valley Idaho
- Unit
- $/50 lb carton
- Last observation
- Oct 16, 2026
- Update frequency
- USDA reports on business days, in season
Idaho russet Norkotah potatoes in 70-count 50 lb cartons are quoted at mostly $23.00 per 50 lb carton FOB as of Oct 16, 2026 (USDA), the fresh market's trade benchmark.
Idaho russet Norkotah potatoes are quoted at mostly $23.00 per 50 lb carton, 70-count, as of Oct 16, 2026, up 4.5% on the week and 12.2% on the month. The price sits 91.7% above the 5-year median.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | $23.00 | $22.00 | +4.5% |
| Month over month | $23.00 | $20.50 | +12.2% |
| Year over year | $23.00 | $7.50 | +206.7% |
| vs 5-yr median | $23.00 | $12.00 | +91.7% |
Previous weeks
Week of Oct 8, 2026
Idaho russet Norkotah 70-count, 50 lb carton, is at $23.00 per USDA shipping point reports dated October 15, 2026, up 5% on the week. The 40-count and 50-count are both at $24.00, 50 lb carton, up 7% on the week and 92% above the five-year median per USDA shipping point reports.
An earlier week
Idaho russet Norkotah potatoes in 70-count 50 lb cartons are $21.00-22.00 per carton FOB as of Oct 6, 2026, up 2.4 percent on the week. They have risen 4.9 percent on the month and 160.6 percent from a year ago. The current level sits 79.2 percent above the 5-year median.
An earlier week
Idaho russet Norkotah 70-count cartons are at mostly $21.00, 50 lb carton, per USDA shipping point reports dated October 1, 2026. The price is flat on the week. The 40 and 50-count cartons are at mostly $22.00 on the same 50 lb pack, carrying a $1.00 count premium over the 70-count.
What moves potato prices
The price on this page is a wholesale one: what a truckload trades for at the shed, free on board (FOB) the shipping point, at the trade benchmark of Idaho russet Norkotahs in 70-count 50 lb cartons from Idaho, the flagship storage origin. It is not a grocery-shelf price; the store adds freight, handling and retail margin on top of it.
What moves it is the storage crop and the calendar. The fall harvest is dug once and shipped from sheds for the following ten months, so the size, grade-out and keeping quality of that one crop shape the whole marketing year, and the carton-count spread is the early read on how the remaining supply's size profile is holding up. The weekly board shows which districts are quoting and what moved.
Potatoes also trade in 50 lb sacks, which for russets means US No. 2 sold by minimum weight rather than by count. Potato sack prices by origin lists every live USDA sack quote, and the 50 lb sack price calculator restates any of them per pound, per 60 lb bushel and per hundredweight.
For the full structural treatment, Why are potato prices rising right now? and its falling twin cover the drivers in both directions.
Common questions
What is the current price of potatoes?
Idaho russet Norkotah potatoes in 70-count 50 lb cartons are quoted at mostly $23.00 per 50 lb carton FOB as of Oct 16, 2026 (USDA), the fresh market's trade benchmark. This is the wholesale FOB price at the shipping point, what a truckload trades for at the shed, not a grocery-shelf price. Other districts, varieties and packs quote their own ranges; see the weekly board.
Are potato prices going up or down right now?
Potato prices at the benchmark spec are rising right now. It has risen 4 consecutive weeks on the comparison midpoint. Why are potato prices rising right now? has the current story.
What does 70-count mean on a potato carton?
A 50 lb russet carton is graded by how many potatoes fill it, from 40-count (the biggest potatoes) to 100-count (the smallest), so 70-count is the mid-size carton the trade treats as the benchmark. The counts trade at different prices, and the carton-count spread tracks that ladder live.
Is this what potatoes cost at the grocery store?
No. This is the wholesale FOB price at the shipping point, quoted per 50 lb carton. A grocery-shelf price adds freight, handling, packaging and retail margin on top, and this site does not track retail shelf prices.
Where does this potato price data come from?
From USDA Agricultural Marketing Service shipping point reports, which quote FOB prices by district, variety, pack and count on business days while a district is shipping. The methodology page has the full sourcing.