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50 lb sack of potatoes price calculator
A 50 lb sack of potatoes sold for $9.00-11.00/50 lb sack ($18.00-22.00/cwt, $0.18-0.22/lb) FOB at the shipping point on Oct 16, 2026, for US No. 2 Norkotah russets (10 oz minimum) out of the Columbia Basin, per USDA shipping point reports. That is $10.80-13.20 for a 60 lb bushel.
Conversions use fixed weights: a hundredweight (cwt) is 100 lb, the sacks in USDA shipping point reports are 50 lb, and a bushel of potatoes is 60 lb, per USDA's Agricultural Handbook 697 (Table 5). Older references, that 1992 handbook among them, list a 100 lb potato sack; enter a 100 lb sack price as a per-cwt price. USDA prices are FOB at the shipping point: potatoes loaded at the packing shed, before freight and before any store's margin. This is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, not a quote or a forecast.
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How the conversion works
Every figure is the same price restated for a different weight. Divide the price by the weight it is quoted for to get a price per pound, then multiply by the weight you want: 50 lb for a sack, 60 lb for a bushel, 100 lb for a hundredweight. Take the Columbia Basin russet 10 oz minimum Norkotah quote (US No. 2), $9.00-11.00/50 lb sack on Oct 16, 2026: divided by 50 that is $0.18-0.22 a pound, times 60 is $10.80-13.20 for a bushel, and times 100 is $18.00-22.00 per cwt.
Which sack quote to use
A sack price depends on what is in the sack. In USDA's shipping point reports, russet sacks are quoted as US No. 2 by minimum weight (6 oz or 10 oz), because US No. 1 russets are packed in count-graded 50 lb cartons; reds, yellows and whites are quoted in sacks as Size A or Size B, in US No. 1 and US No. 2. Pick the quote that matches the potatoes you are pricing. The 50 lb sack page lists every sack quote USDA published in the last two weeks, and the price per pound converter handles cartons, consumer bags and totes.
For the carton prices that sit beside these sacks, current potato prices tracks the Idaho 70-count carton benchmark, Idaho potato prices carries that district's cartons, sacks and bales side by side, and russet potato prices compares the russet benchmark across every origin quoting it.
Shipping point, not shelf
A USDA shipping point price is what a buyer pays for potatoes loaded on a truck at the packing shed. Freight, the wholesaler, and the store's margin and shrink all sit between that and a grocery price, so a store's 50 lb bag costs more than the figures here.
Common questions
How much is a sack of potatoes?
A 50 lb sack of potatoes sold for $9.00-11.00/50 lb sack ($18.00-22.00/cwt, $0.18-0.22/lb) FOB at the shipping point on Oct 16, 2026, for US No. 2 Norkotah russets (10 oz minimum) out of the Columbia Basin, per USDA shipping point reports. Across the USDA sack quotes in the list above, prices run from $9.00-11.00/50 lb sack (Columbia Basin russet 10 oz minimum Norkotah, US No. 2) to mostly $18.00/50 lb sack (Idaho russet 10 oz minimum Norkotah, US No. 2). These are wholesale prices at the packing shed, not store prices.
How much is a bushel of potatoes?
A bushel of potatoes is 60 lb by USDA's conversion handbook, 1.2 times a 50 lb sack. At the Columbia Basin russet 10 oz minimum Norkotah quote (US No. 2) of $9.00-11.00/50 lb sack on Oct 16, 2026, a bushel works out to $10.80-13.20 at the shipping point.
How many pounds are in a sack of potatoes?
Fifty, in USDA's shipping point reports: the sack it quotes is a 50 lb sack, half a hundredweight. Older references list a 100 lb sack, so check which one a price means before comparing it.
How do you convert a cwt price to a sack price?
Halve it. A hundredweight is 100 lb and a sack is 50 lb, so $20.00 per cwt is $10.00 a sack. Divide the per-cwt price by 100 for a price per pound, or multiply it by 0.6 for a 60 lb bushel.