Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Grower Working Capital Per Acre
Potato grower working capital per acre normalizes short-term financial capacity across farms and acreage programs. MassGain connects working capital with seed, fertilizer, irrigation, harvest, storage, contracts, and expected marketable yield so lenders and growers can assess whether liquidity is adequate for the crop’s actual operating intensity.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato grower working-capital-per-acre data normalizes current assets less current liabilities by the acreage supporting the potato crop plan. The market object is the short-term financial cushion available for each acre after near-term obligations are recognized.
Use the data to compare proposed acreage with seed, fertilizer, crop protection, irrigation, labor, harvest, storage, and financing needs. Keep the acreage basis consistent and qualify receivables and potato inventory so an expansion is not funded by working capital that exists only on paper.
Data Module
Potato Grower Working Capital per Acre
Market objectworking-capital cushion by acre
Primary measurecurrent assets minus liabilities / acres
Key dimensionsgrower, acreage basis, crop year, timing
Commercial useacreage and financing planning
Cost contextinputs, harvest, storage, debt
Compare withcrop budget and downside cash needs
Analysis
Why this matters
Working capital per acre can fall even when total working capital is unchanged if the grower expands potato acreage faster than liquidity. It can also appear stronger when acreage falls after a difficult year, without any improvement in absolute finances.
Commercial interpretation should compare the cushion with the actual cost and risk of the planned crop. Different production systems, irrigation, storage, and contract terms can require very different liquidity per acre.
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 potato growers, producer groups, lenders, and processors that need to measure working capital per acre. The metric divides available working capital—current assets less current liabilities—by the acres supporting the crop plan, showing how much short-term financial cushion exists for each acre of potato production.
MassGain connects cash, receivables, inventories, prepaid inputs, operating debt, accrued expenses, and upcoming payments with planted acres, crop budgets, contracts, seed, fertilizer, irrigation, labor, harvest, and storage. Growers can compare fields or expansion plans. Lenders can determine whether an operation has enough liquidity for a high-cost crop. Processor procurement teams can identify suppliers whose acreage commitments exceed their financial capacity. Scenario analysis can test input inflation, delayed payments, lower yield, quality discounts, or additional storage time.
Working capital per acre is not a universal benchmark because production systems, rented land, irrigation, storage ownership, and contract structures differ. MassGain does not recommend financing levels. It provides an enterprise planning framework that documents the numerator and acreage basis and shows whether available liquidity is aligned with the actual cost and risk of the potato crop being undertaken.
Use Case
A grower plans to expand processing potatoes by 300 acres. MassGain calculates working capital per acre after seed deposits, input purchases, and current debt and shows the expansion would reduce the cushion below the farm’s historical downside need. The grower secures a larger operating line and stages acreage instead of overextending.
FAQs
How is working capital per acre calculated?
Subtract current liabilities from current assets and divide by the relevant potato acreage.
Why does acreage basis matter?
Planted, harvested, contracted, and total farm acres can produce different and potentially misleading results.
How does MassGain stress the metric?
It models crop costs, input timing, prices, yield, receivables, storage, and debt against the available cushion.
Put this market intelligence to work
Get historical data, regional detail, benchmarks, alerts, exports, and API access tailored to your procurement
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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.