Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Worm Damage Tolerance
Potato worm damage tolerance measures larval feeding injury such as holes, tunnels, and scars under a defined sampling method. MassGain links field-level incidence with sorting, peeling, chip or fry recovery, contract tolerance, customer eligibility, and alternate supply.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato worm-damage-tolerance data measures holes, tunnels, feeding scars, and internal injury associated with wireworm or other larval damage under a defined sampling and grading method. The market object is the lot or field exposure linked to variety, region, severity, sample size, and processing or fresh-market use.
Use the data to estimate sorting, peeling, slice or fry recovery, customer eligibility, and contract adjustment. Preserve field identity and sampling confidence because larval damage can be clustered rather than evenly distributed.
Data Module
Potato Worm Damage Tolerance
Market objectlarval-damaged potato lot
Primary measuresholes, tunnels, severity, incidence
Key dimensionsfield, variety, sample, end use
Commercial usesettlement and outlet selection
Risk contextclustered field damage
Compare withrecovery, grade tolerance, alternate supply
Analysis
Why this matters
Clustered worm damage can make a small sample either overstate or understate whole-lot risk. The same incidence can also carry different value depending on whether defects remain superficial or penetrate finished slices and fries.
Commercial interpretation should combine severity, sampling confidence, and end-use recovery. Field-level traceability supports targeted discounts or redirection without unnecessarily impairing clean lots from the same supplier.
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 and market-intelligence teams managing potato worm damage tolerance, including wireworm or other larval feeding injury that creates holes, tunnels, scars, or internal defects. MassGain structures inspection evidence by lot, field, region, variety, severity, incidence, sample size, and intended use.
It connects worm damage with trimming, peeling, slice or fry recovery, appearance, foodservice or retail standards, storage risk, and contract deductions. Buyers can determine whether a lot is suitable for processing, requires enhanced sorting, or should be redirected. Suppliers can quantify the effect on packout and settlement, while procurement can assess whether regional pressure is tightening qualified supply.
The suite highlights uncertainty where small samples may miss clustered field damage. MassGain does not identify the causal organism or replace grading and pest expertise. It provides a transparent quality and market framework for determining the economic effect of worm-related defects.
Use Case
A chip plant finds worm holes in a contracted lot. MassGain compares incidence by field, internal severity, slice recovery, and alternate regional supply. Only the affected field is discounted and redirected, while the supplier's other lots continue under the original program.
FAQs
What does worm damage include?
It includes holes, tunnels, feeding scars, and internal injury caused by soil-dwelling larvae or similar pests.
Why can sampling understate the problem?
Damage may be clustered within certain fields or zones rather than evenly distributed.
How does MassGain support settlement?
It connects measured severity with contract tolerance, yield loss, downgrade, and replacement value.
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.