Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Production Cost Per Acre
Potato production cost per acre combines seed, inputs, irrigation, labor, machinery, land, harvest, storage, finance, and overhead under a defined cost scope. Converting it to cost per marketable tonne lets growers and lenders test break-even against realistic yields and prices.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato production cost per acre measures the spending required to produce an acre of potatoes under a defined accounting scope. Components can include seed, fertilizer, crop protection, irrigation, labor, machinery, fuel, land, insurance, finance, harvest, storage, and overhead, with clear distinction between cash, operating, and full economic cost.
Use the metric by translating acre cost into cost per expected marketable tonne and comparing that break-even with relevant contracts and regional prices. Yield, quality, storage loss, and product end use determine whether a high-cost acre is commercially viable.
Data Module
Production cost per acre context
Direct inputsseed, nutrients, and crop protection
Water and laborirrigation and workforce expense
Machineryfuel, repair, depreciation, and custom work
Land and financerent, insurance, and interest
Output basisexpected marketable tonnes
Decision usebreak-even, acreage, and loan planning
Analysis
Why this matters
Cost per acre is incomplete without a yield denominator. Two farms can spend the same amount per acre and have very different economics because marketable recovery, quality, and price realization differ.
The most useful analysis therefore links acre cost to a distribution of saleable yield and matched market prices. This exposes whether profitability depends on optimistic production assumptions or whether the contracted market provides adequate margin even under a reasonable downside case.
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 10, 2026Latest MassGain publication
Potato prices quiet at $30/cwt as regional harvest damage buzzes beneath the surface
Market indicators are stable, but reporting from Europe and select growing areas shows real, localized crop stress — a reminder that steady headline prices can mask uneven physical risk.
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, lenders, processors, farm managers, and advisers that need to calculate potato production cost on an acreage basis. Potato production cost per acre can include seed, fertilizer, crop protection, irrigation, labor, machinery, fuel, land, insurance, interest, storage, harvest, and overhead. The appropriate scope depends on whether the user needs cash cost, operating cost, or full economic cost.
MassGain’s potato data suite adds regional contract, farmgate, yield, quality, and crop context to the calculation. Cost per acre alone can be misleading because farms with similar spending may produce very different marketable tonnes. MassGain helps users translate the budget into cost per expected saleable tonne and test how yield loss, quality deductions, storage, and price movement affect break-even.
The analysis supports crop planning, operating loans, grower negotiations, acreage decisions, and downside scenarios. MassGain does not provide a farm’s private accounting records or agronomic recommendations. It provides the independent physical-market evidence needed to judge whether an acre-level budget is commercially viable, identify the inputs driving sensitivity, and compare the required price with realistic contract and market opportunities.
Use Case
A grower presents a $5,600-per-acre budget for processing potatoes. MassGain compares the cost with regional contract values and tests expected, low-yield, and quality-deduction cases. The base case is viable, but a 12% reduction in marketable yield pushes the required price above the contract, leading the lender to increase liquidity and tighten acreage expansion.
FAQs
What can potato production cost per acre include?
Seed, nutrients, protection, water, labor, machinery, land, harvest, storage, finance, and overhead may be included.
Why convert acre cost to cost per marketable tonne?
Yield and quality determine how many saleable units absorb the acre-level expense.
How does MassGain support the calculation?
It compares costs with regional contracts, farmgate prices, yield, quality, and break-even scenarios.
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.