As the season of gratitude approaches, the state of Colorado and the state’s leading agriculture advocate were touting their taters on Tuesday.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture pointed out that Colorado is the nation’s second-largest producer of fresh-market potatoes (as opposed to processed) and sixth for all spuds combined.

The market reaches its high in November as Thanksgiving approaches. Colorado’s shipments this month alone equates to 351.2 million servings of mashed potatoes, the state agency calculates.

Colorado potatoes are available at farmers’ markets, Kroger stores, Safeway and Wal-Mart, the department notes.

The San Luis Valley produces 70 varieties and is home to 150 potato-farming families, thanks to 350 days of sunshine annually and 7,600 feet of elevation – ideal for growing spuds, according to the state.

The Department of Agriculture plugged the potato dish recipes available online at coloradopotato.org. 

“People don’t realize it but Colorado is a major potato producer, with most of that production centered in the San Luis Valley,” Shawn Martini, the vice president for advocacy, said Tuesday. “Our potato growers are innovative and responsible for the creation of many different kinds of hybrid potato varieties that are now grown all over the world.

“From artisanal fingerlings to Colorado Reds and Yukon Golds, Colorado potato production makes our state the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the country. It’s a safe bet your Thanksgiving mashed potatoes were produced locally, just over the mountains in the San Luis Valley.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 35th Thanksgiving Dinner Price Survey found the cost was down 4% this year compared to its 2019 survey, a little good news for family’s struggling in the economic fallout of the pandemic.

The average price of Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 10 this year is $46.90, the survey found using volunteer shoppers across the country. The $4.69 per person price is the lowest since 2010, said Dr. John Newton, the American Farm Bureau’s chief economist.

“Despite major disruptions in the supply chain, cratering commodity prices, and labor challenges all caused by COVID-19, agriculture is still open for business and delivered on its promise to keep food on America’s dinner table,” Colorado Farm Bureau president Carlyle Currier, a rancher from Molina, said in a statement.

The annual price survey has been around since 1986.

The price of a turkey decreased 7% this year. The average bird will cost $19.39, or $1.21 per pound.

“Pricing whole turkeys as ‘loss leaders’ to entice shoppers and move product is a strategy we’re seeing retailers use that’s increasingly common the closer we get to the holiday,” Newton said.

Farmers who produce the food earn about 13.2% of meals cooked at home, but just 2.4% of food purchased away from home, such as from restaurants.