Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Price Dispersion
Potato price dispersion measures how widely comparable physical prices differ within a defined market and period. MassGain normalizes product, quality, timing, freight, and contract basis before analyzing ranges and percentiles so valid basis differences can be separated from fragmentation or negotiation opportunity.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato price dispersion measures how widely comparable potato prices differ across transactions, suppliers, origins, specifications, or delivery windows during a defined period. The object should normalize product, grade, variety, crop period, unit, freight, contract status, and delivery basis before the distribution is calculated.
Use dispersion to identify market fragmentation, uncertainty, basis differences, or negotiation opportunities. Review ranges, percentiles, medians, and constituent context rather than assuming the lowest or highest observation is directly available or economically equivalent.
Data Module
Potato Price Dispersion
MeasureDistribution of comparable physical potato prices
DimensionsRegion, supplier, quality, timing, delivery basis
StatisticsRange, percentiles, median, variability
Commercial useQuote review and benchmark confidence
DriversLiquidity, quality, freight, segmentation, uncertainty
WatchpointNormalize basis before comparing the spread
Analysis
Why this matters
Dispersion matters because wide price spreads can represent either useful market information or poor comparability. Freight, quality, timing, and specification can create valid differences that disappear after normalization.
Persistent dispersion among truly comparable offers is more commercially meaningful. It can signal fragmentation or uneven information and may reveal negotiation leverage, while broad dispersion in thin markets should also widen forecast confidence ranges.
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 analysts, benchmark administrators, processors, and risk teams that need to understand potato price dispersion. Price dispersion measures how widely comparable potato prices differ across transactions, regions, suppliers, specifications, or delivery windows during a defined period. MassGain helps users determine whether the spread reflects genuine market segmentation or inconsistent, stale, and non-comparable observations.
Wide dispersion can signal uncertainty, thin liquidity, regional dislocation, quality differences, freight effects, or unequal information. It may also expose a commercial opportunity when one supplier or origin remains mispriced after normalization. MassGain aligns product, grade, variety, unit, crop period, contract status, and delivery basis before calculating ranges, percentiles, standard deviation, or other measures. Procurement can identify quotes that require explanation, benchmark teams can assess representativeness, and finance can widen forecast ranges when the market is fragmented. Historical comparison shows whether current dispersion is ordinary for the season or evidence of disruption. MassGain does not assume that the lowest observation is available or equivalent. It provides the market structure needed to separate valid price differences from data noise and to understand what the distribution says about negotiation leverage, substitution, and risk.
Use Case
A buyer receives five processing-potato quotes spanning 18%. MassGain normalizes freight, solids, delivery timing, and quality and finds that most of the gap is legitimate, but one supplier remains materially above the adjusted range. Procurement challenges that premium while preserving higher prices tied to superior recovery.
FAQs
What does potato price dispersion measure?
It measures the spread of comparable prices within a defined market and period.
Does wide dispersion always indicate bad data?
No. Region, quality, timing, freight, liquidity, and contract terms can create valid differences.
How does MassGain make dispersion useful?
It normalizes observations and connects the distribution with market structure, history, liquidity, and commercial exposure.
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.