Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Storage Fan Hours
The potato storage fan hours view tracks ventilation runtime by building, storage stage, and cohort alongside delivered airflow and operating conditions. Storage operators and buyers can use it to distinguish productive fan use from costly runtime that is not preserving inventory value.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato storage-fan-hours data records accumulated operating time for storage circulation or ventilation fans. The market object is fan runtime by building, period, storage stage, and cohort, interpreted with fan capacity, delivered airflow, weather, pile temperature, humidity, and crop condition.
Use the data to benchmark facilities, explain energy variance, and identify whether longer runtime is protecting inventory or compensating for poor airflow distribution, equipment problems, or difficult crop conditions. Compare hours with outcomes rather than assuming lower runtime is always better.
Data Module
Potato Storage Fan Hours
Market objectventilation runtime
Primary measureaccumulated fan hours
Key dimensionsbuilding, period, storage stage
Commercial useenergy and quality analysis
Contextairflow, weather, pile condition
Compare withshrink, temperature, inventory value
Analysis
Why this matters
High fan hours can signal disciplined management during difficult weather or inefficient operation; low hours can indicate favorable conditions or inadequate control. Runtime alone is therefore ambiguous.
Commercial interpretation should compare hours with delivered airflow, temperature uniformity, shrink, and energy. The meaningful question is whether the additional operating time preserves enough potato value to justify its cost.
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 storage operators, wholesalers, growers, processors, and finance teams that need to interpret potato storage fan hours. Fan hours record how long ventilation and circulation equipment operates, but the number becomes useful only when paired with fan capacity, airflow delivered, outside conditions, storage stage, pile temperature, humidity, and the quality of the crop. MassGain turns that operating log into a comparable measure of storage performance and cost.
High fan hours may represent disciplined use during difficult weather, inefficient equipment, poor insulation, inadequate airflow distribution, or an attempt to correct a deteriorating pile. Low hours may indicate favorable conditions or insufficient control. MassGain compares hours by facility, cohort, month, and operating objective and connects them with electricity prices, temperature gradients, shrink, disease, sprouting, storage life, and customer commitments. Storage managers can identify abnormal buildings or periods, wholesalers can forecast holding cost, processors can evaluate whether contracted inventory is being protected, and lenders can understand how operating expense and quality risk affect collateral. MassGain does not determine the correct run time. It provides the market and operational context needed to distinguish productive fan use from costly activity that is failing to preserve potato value.
Use Case
A storage operator sees electricity expense rise sharply even though stored tonnes are unchanged. MassGain compares fan hours, weather opportunities, delivered airflow, temperature spread, and shrink across four buildings. One store is running substantially longer because blocked airflow prevents uniform cooling. The operator corrects the distribution problem and reduces energy use without weakening quality control.
FAQs
What do potato storage fan hours measure?
They measure the accumulated operating time of storage ventilation or circulation fans.
Are fewer fan hours always better?
No. Insufficient operation can allow heat, moisture, carbon dioxide, or quality problems to develop.
How does MassGain evaluate fan hours?
It compares operating time with airflow, weather, storage stage, energy, temperature, shrink, quality, and inventory value.
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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.