I write a commodity brief for our users every Monday and this week it’s sweet potatoes. Sharing here in case useful (and also to learn from those who move it regularly)!

Commodity opportunity

NC ships about 46,000 truckloads a year. Reefer around 55F. Below that is chilling injury.

Digging normally starts mid August and runs until frost, around mid November. This year it still hasn’t started due to drought hit during planting in May and June. A lot of fields got replanted, which pushed everything back.

One farm packer went on record last week saying “Everybody is running out of supply right now”. Old crops are gone, and some sheds have been cutting customers off since July.

The frost date doesn’t move. So the read is: same 46,000 truckloads of harvest, fewer weeks, loads per week goes up, structural shortage, overflow is gonna hit the board in the next 2 weeks.

Commodity playbook

Where it hauls:
Seven counties move most of it: Sampson, Wilson, Nash, Edgecombe, Johnston, Wayne, Greene. All eastern NC.

Who to call:
The sheds directly. The bigger ones are Vick Family Farms (Wilson), Ham Farms (Snow Hill), Scott Farms (Lucama), Nash Produce. Ask for sales or the traffic desk.

How to open:
“I know a lot of fields had to replant. When does digging start for you this year?” Every shed’s answer is going to be different right now, and asking it that way signals you know that.

Qualifying questions:
• What pulp temp do you want protected? They ride warm, around 55F. Quoting 34F ends the call.
• Bins or 40-lb cartons?
• Continuous or cycle-sentry on the reefer?
• What’s the loading window? It’s a farm shed, not a DC dock.
• When was the last washout, what was in the box before?

When to call:
This week the traffic desk still picks up. Once digging starts, they’re covering loads and you’ll be one of 40 voicemails.

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Hope this is useful. If anyone hauls sweet potatoes, lemme know what we missed. And if there’s a commodity you want covered next week, say the word and you got it.