Factors Influencing Potato Production in North Dakota

Abstract

Spatial shifts and structural changes continue to occur in the United States agricultural industry. Researchers have documented that the potato industry has changed in response to demands of consumers, expectations of producers and improvements in research and development. The aim of this study was to provide empirical evidence that both institutional and infrastructural factors are important to potato production in North Dakota. Using secondary county-level potato production data for North Dakota, an empirical model was designed to estimate the direction and impact of growers' expectations of prices, yields and costs on their decision to produce potatoes. The results confirmed that institutional relationships established between growers and processors, as well as the infrastructure that growers have in place from one growing season to the next, are statistically significant in determining the total number of potato acres planted.