Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Open Market Sales Volume
Potato open market sales volume measures reported free-buy or spot transactions outside pre-existing fixed contracts or committed programs. Use it to judge marginal liquidity and benchmark depth while separating new open-market trades from contract nominations, internal transfers, and previously sold shipments.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato open-market-sales-volume data measures reported sales outside pre-existing fixed contracts or committed programs under a defined market convention. The market object is discretionary or free-buy transaction volume by region, variety, grade, end use, delivery period, unit, and transaction basis.
Use the data to assess marginal liquidity, determine how much product is genuinely exposed to current cash pricing, and judge whether spot-price movement is supported by meaningful trade. Separate open-market sales from contract nominations, internal transfers, and shipments that reflect earlier transactions.
Data Module
Potato Open-Market Sales Volume
Market objectdiscretionary physical transactions
Primary measureopen-market sales volume
Key dimensionsregion, variety, grade, period
Commercial useliquidity and spot exposure analysis
Market structurefree-buy versus contracted supply
Compare withprices, storage, crop, contract coverage
Analysis
Why this matters
Open-market volume can be small relative to total potato production yet disproportionately important for visible price discovery because most crop may already be contracted. A sharp spot move on a few urgent trades therefore does not necessarily reprice the whole supply base.
Commercial interpretation should pair price with transaction depth and coverage. Thin open trade suggests caution in extrapolating a marginal price to larger uncovered requirements.
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 procurement teams, processors, growers, and market analysts that need to measure potato open-market sales volume. Open-market volume covers potatoes sold outside pre-existing fixed contracts or committed programs under the applicable market definition. It provides a view of liquidity and marginal price discovery that total production or contracted deliveries cannot supply.
MassGain separates free-buy, spot, auction, brokered, and other uncommitted transactions from contract nominations and internal transfers. The suite organizes volume by region, variety, grade, end use, delivery period, unit, and transaction basis and compares it with historical norms, storage holdings, crop progress, and price movement. Procurement can see how much product is actually available for supplemental coverage. Analysts can judge whether a benchmark move rests on meaningful traded volume. Growers can compare the share of crop exposed to current cash conditions.
Open-market sales can be small but influential because they often set the marginal price. MassGain documents collection coverage and avoids treating unreported private business as zero. It does not claim visibility into every sale. It provides a consistent framework for separating contracted and discretionary trade, interpreting liquidity, and understanding how much volume is supporting the observed cash-market signal.
Use Case
A processor sees spot prices rise sharply but wants to know whether the move affects its uncovered tonnes. MassGain shows open-market sales volume is low and concentrated in urgent small lots, while larger sellers remain inactive. Procurement buys only a short bridge and waits for broader volume confirmation.
FAQs
What counts as open-market potato volume?
It generally includes uncommitted spot or free-buy sales outside established fixed contracts or programs.
Why can small open-market volume move prices?
Marginal transactions often establish the visible cash price when most production is already contracted.
How does MassGain separate the volume?
It classifies transaction type, contract status, region, product, timing, unit, and reporting coverage.
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.