Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Farm Return on Assets
Potato farm return on assets measures earnings generated by the farm’s asset base over a defined period. MassGain connects profitability with acreage, yield, quality, contracts, storage, land and equipment, input costs, and regional prices so users can separate operating performance from temporary asset-value or market effects.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato farm return-on-assets data measures defined farm earnings relative to the average asset base employed during the period. The market object is operating return generated by land, machinery, storage, irrigation, inventory, and other productive assets, with earnings and asset definitions kept consistent.
Use the data to compare farms and capital projects after separating operating performance from leverage and temporary asset appreciation. Connect ROA with marketable yield, realized potato prices, quality, contracts, storage utilization, and asset values.
Data Module
Potato Farm Return on Assets
Market objectoperating return on farm assets
Primary measuredefined earnings / average assets
Key dimensionsfarm, asset class, crop year, valuation
Commercial useprofitability and capital analysis
Physical contextyield, contracts, storage, utilization
Compare withasset turnover and operating margin
Analysis
Why this matters
ROA can improve because operations become more productive, earnings rise during a scarce market, or the asset denominator changes. Those effects should not be treated as the same source of performance.
Commercial interpretation should normalize earnings and asset values and separate operating return from unrealized land appreciation or accounting changes. Durable ROA is strongest when it is supported by repeatable marketable yield and asset use.
Signal 01
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index
UCUI translates crop and market complexity into a simple uncertainty signal. Higher readings indicate greater uncertainty—not necessarily higher prices.
Understand uncertainty. Anticipate risk. Act earlier.
UCUI is designed to analyze potato-industry publications and data signals across regions, varieties, weather, disease, storage, supply, and demand.
WeatherHigh
DiseaseHigh
StorageMedium
SupplyMedium
Single-day snapshot based on a scan of 11,500+ web and social signals. Get historical and real-time data by clicking the button below.
The MassGain Daily
Today’s market analysis.
A daily editorial synthesis of physical potato data, crop signals, market reporting, and what participants should watch next.
September 16, 2026Latest MassGain publication
Potato market steady for now; Russia’s smaller crop is the salient risk
Spot prices are flat and USDA terminal reports read ‘market steady,’ but a renewed forecast for a smaller Russian harvest and recent regional harvest stress leave seasonal import timing and storage losses as the key uncertainty.
Signal 02
MassGain Potato Index
Independent physical-pricing intelligence and market-trend analysis for procurement, forecasting, contracting, and scenario planning.
Core Russet Carton Median
312.45 USD/MT
Latest qualifying physical-market observation
+4.75 (+1.55%)
Price discovery for the physical potato market
MPI is designed to track physical pricing data, price trends, deltas, and divergences across regions and potato types.
Series window45 days
Current public coverageCore russet cartons
Primary source basisQualifying USDA physical rows
UnitUSD per metric tonne
Single-day snapshot based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varieties by clicking the button below.
Signal 03
MassGain Spot Reference
An independent spot reference designed for price discovery, contract discussions, procurement comparisons, and risk modeling.
Russet Burbank — U.S. Midsize
305 USD/MT
Demonstration reference format
+1.6% WoW · Confidence: High
A trusted benchmark for pricing, contracts, and risk
MSR is intended to use real transactions and verifiable physical-market data to support negotiations, price checks, contracting, and risk models.
ProductRusset Burbank
SpecificationU.S. midsize, 40–70 count
Reference typePhysical spot benchmark
StatusIn development
Based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varities by clicking the button below. Full access also includes historical data -- including depreciated NYMEX/CBOE/EEX spot references -- projections, trends, and AI-driven insights.
The MassGain Product Ladder
From insight to intelligence to action
Four integrated products built for the physical potato market, delivered through public pages, reports, exports, dashboards, and API access.
1
Content
Original research, commentary, aggregated news, and market updates.
- What matters right now?
- What is happening out there?
2
UCUI™
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index: an AI-powered signal of crop risk and market uncertainty.
- Understand uncertainty
- Anticipate risk
- Act earlier
3
MPI™
MassGain Potato Index: independent physical-pricing intelligence and trend analysis.
- Price discovery
- Regional trends
- Procurement planning
4
MSR™
MassGain Spot Reference: an independent benchmark for price discovery and risk modeling.
- Contracts
- Negotiations
- Risk models
Content + UCUI + MPI + MSR + API access
Get historical series, regional detail, constituent data, exports, alerts, and direct data access.
Overview
Who is this for?
This page is for commodity-finance and risk teams, growers, lenders, and processors that need potato farm return on assets. ROA compares defined farm earnings with the average assets used to produce them, helping users evaluate whether land, machinery, storage, irrigation, inventory, and working capital generate an adequate operating return.
MassGain organizes earnings under a documented definition and connects them with asset values, acreage, yield, marketable quality, realized potato prices, contracts, storage, equipment use, and financing structure. Lenders can compare farms while separating operating performance from leverage. Growers can assess capital projects and underused assets. Processor procurement teams can understand whether suppliers earn enough to maintain critical production capacity. Scenario analysis can test lower prices, poor yield, input inflation, and asset write-downs.
ROA is sensitive to valuation and accounting choices, including depreciation, unpaid labor, land values, and inventory. MassGain does not define accounting standards or recommend investments. It provides a transparent farm and physical-market framework that makes assumptions visible and separates operating returns from temporary asset appreciation, helping users understand whether potato production is generating durable value from the resources committed.
Use Case
A potato farm reports strong ROA after land values rise. MassGain recalculates operating return using average productive assets and excludes unrealized appreciation from earnings. The result shows core potato operations are improving, but less dramatically than the headline figure suggests.
FAQs
How is potato farm ROA calculated?
Divide defined farm earnings by average total assets employed during the period.
Why does asset valuation matter?
Land appreciation, depreciation, inventory values, and new investment can materially alter the denominator.
How does MassGain improve comparison?
It aligns earnings and assets and adds acreage, yield, price, quality, contracts, and utilization context.
Put this market intelligence to work
Get historical data, regional detail, benchmarks, alerts, exports, and API access tailored to your procurement
and market-analysis needs.
Data and Methodology
Professional market-data standards
MassGain is building transparent public market infrastructure. Each live metric will identify its date, unit, coverage, methodology, and source basis.
Data provenance
MassGain uses public, licensed, contributed, and independently derived physical-market information. Source availability and publication schedules vary.
Timing and revisions
Figures may reflect the latest available observation rather than a same-day transaction. Source data and MassGain calculations may be corrected, restated, or revised.
Not transactional pricing
MassGain figures are informational reference values and do not constitute executable bids, offers, settlements, or guarantees that a transaction can occur at the displayed value.
No individualized advice
Content and data are provided for informational and analytical purposes and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, trading, or individualized procurement advice.
Independent publication
Certain observations may be derived from USDA reports. MassGain is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USDA.
Commercial use and licensing
Public display does not grant rights to reproduce, redistribute, republish, or incorporate MassGain indices or references into commercial products or contracts without authorization.