ProduceWire ProduceWire

Arkansas · crop watch

Arkansas sweet potato crop

As of the week ending Sep 27, 84% of the 2026 Arkansas sweet potato crop is rated good or excellent, versus 51% at this point last year. Harvest is 39% complete. USDA last published a production estimate for the state in 2018, when the crop finished at 1.1 million cwt.

Week ending Sep 27, 2026

Good to excellent

84%of the crop

Share of the 2026 crop rated good or excellent for the week ending Sep 27.

–

39%

Harvested

As of Sep 27.

Analysis

Week ending Sep 27

Arkansas sweet potatoes rated far ahead of last year

Arkansas sweet potatoes were rated 84% good to excellent for the week ending Sept. 27, down 1 point from the prior week but far above the 51% mark recorded at the same point last year. Fair-rated acreage stood at 16%, with none rated poor or very poor. Harvest reached 39% complete, trailing last year's 51% pace for this date. Planting had wrapped up at 100% back in mid-July. With harvest running behind last year, the coming weeks of digging will show whether that pace narrows before the season's next condition report.

Written from USDA data and source reports

Weekly ratings

Crop condition, 2026

Bars are the full USDA rating split each week. The dashed line is the five-year average for good plus excellent; the dotted line is last year.

Arkansas sweet potato crop condition, 20260%25%50%75%100%Week ending May 24: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 10%, Good 50%, Excellent 40% — good+excellent 90% (5-yr avg —, last year 5%)Week ending May 31: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 8%, Good 35%, Excellent 57% — good+excellent 92% (5-yr avg —, last year 1%)Week ending Jun 7: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 17%, Good 29%, Excellent 54% — good+excellent 83% (5-yr avg —, last year 10%)Week ending Jun 14: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 17%, Good 38%, Excellent 45% — good+excellent 83% (5-yr avg —, last year 10%)Week ending Jun 21: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 23%, Good 29%, Excellent 48% — good+excellent 77% (5-yr avg —, last year 51%)Week ending Jun 28: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 30%, Good 31%, Excellent 39% — good+excellent 70% (5-yr avg —, last year 52%)Week ending Jul 5: Very poor 0%, Poor 4%, Fair 34%, Good 32%, Excellent 30% — good+excellent 62% (5-yr avg —, last year 45%)Week ending Jul 12: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 25%, Good 38%, Excellent 37% — good+excellent 75% (5-yr avg —, last year 39%)Week ending Jul 19: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 16%, Good 55%, Excellent 29% — good+excellent 84% (5-yr avg —, last year 51%)Week ending Jul 26: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 17%, Good 65%, Excellent 18% — good+excellent 83% (5-yr avg —, last year 42%)Week ending Aug 2: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 20%, Good 56%, Excellent 24% — good+excellent 80% (5-yr avg —, last year 37%)Week ending Aug 9: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 20%, Good 51%, Excellent 29% — good+excellent 80% (5-yr avg —, last year 46%)Week ending Aug 16: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 25%, Good 43%, Excellent 32% — good+excellent 75% (5-yr avg —, last year 37%)Week ending Aug 23: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 23%, Good 52%, Excellent 25% — good+excellent 77% (5-yr avg —, last year 54%)Week ending Aug 30: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 20%, Good 49%, Excellent 31% — good+excellent 80% (5-yr avg —, last year 68%)Week ending Sep 6: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 11%, Good 49%, Excellent 40% — good+excellent 89% (5-yr avg —, last year 56%)Week ending Sep 13: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 15%, Good 52%, Excellent 33% — good+excellent 85% (5-yr avg —, last year 47%)Week ending Sep 20: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 15%, Good 61%, Excellent 24% — good+excellent 85% (5-yr avg —, last year 40%)Week ending Sep 27: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 16%, Good 68%, Excellent 16% — good+excellent 84% (5-yr avg —, last year 51%)−9 pts — week ending Jun 7−9 ptsHarvest begins — week ending Sep 13Harvest beginsMay 24Jun 14Jul 5Jul 26Aug 16Sep 6Sep 27
Very poorPoorFairGoodExcellent5-yr avg good+excellentLast year

Latest: 84% good or excellent, week ending Sep 27. Hover a bar for the full breakdown.

Field progress

Planted, 2026

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Arkansas sweet potato planted, 20260%50%100%Planted, week ending Apr 19: 1% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Planted, week ending Apr 26: 6% (5-yr avg —, last year 26%)Planted, week ending May 3: 25% (5-yr avg —, last year 36%)Planted, week ending May 10: 43% (5-yr avg —, last year 40%)Planted, week ending May 17: 55% (5-yr avg —, last year 44%)Planted, week ending May 24: 65% (5-yr avg 10%, last year 49%)Planted, week ending May 31: 79% (5-yr avg —, last year 59%)Planted, week ending Jun 7: 83% (5-yr avg —, last year 67%)Planted, week ending Jun 14: 84% (5-yr avg —, last year 71%)Planted, week ending Jun 21: 90% (5-yr avg —, last year 84%)Planted, week ending Jun 28: 93% (5-yr avg —, last year 93%)Planted, week ending Jul 5: 96% (5-yr avg —, last year 97%)Planted, week ending Jul 12: 100% (5-yr avg —, last year 100%)Apr 19May 3May 17May 31Jun 14Jun 28Jul 12
This year5-yr avgLast year

Planted: 100% as of Jul 12.

Field progress

Harvested, 2026

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Arkansas sweet potato harvested, 20260%50%100%Harvested, week ending Aug 30: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 1%)Harvested, week ending Sep 6: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year 9%)Harvested, week ending Sep 13: 19% (5-yr avg —, last year 23%)Harvested, week ending Sep 20: 30% (5-yr avg —, last year 38%)Harvested, week ending Sep 27: 39% (5-yr avg —, last year 51%)Aug 30Sep 6Sep 13Sep 20Sep 27
This year5-yr avgLast year

Harvested: 39% as of Sep 27.

Production record

Final crop by year, through 2018

USDA published production estimates for Arkansas sweet potato through 2018 and has not surveyed the state since.

Arkansas sweet potato crop: final estimate by year00.511.5million cwt2010: no forecast · final 0.5 million cwt20102011: no forecast · final 0.6 million cwt20112012: no forecast · final 0.8 million cwt20122013: no forecast · final 0.7 million cwt20132014: no forecast · final 0.7 million cwt20142015: no forecast · final 0.7 million cwt20152018: no forecast · final 1.1 million cwt2018
Crop yearFinal (million cwt)Crop valueShare of US
20181.1 million cwt$24M3.9%
20150.7 million cwt$20M2.4%
20140.7 million cwt—2.2%
20130.7 million cwt$21M2.7%
20120.8 million cwt$24M2.9%
20110.6 million cwt$10M2.3%
20100.5 million cwt$7M2.0%

USDA published annual estimates for this state through 2018. It has since been dropped from the annual survey, so there is no newer production figure — the weekly condition ratings above are the current measure.

Updated September 29, 2026

Get the Weekly Market Brief

Price moves, freight signals, and the produce stories that matter — one email, every week. Built for buyers, category managers, and brokers.

Subscribe free →