The sweet potatoes headed for Thanksgiving casseroles this month have a familiar home state. North Carolina, the country’s top sweet potato producer, harvested nearly 92,000 acres of the crop in 2025, according to the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission.
That harvest carried an estimated economic value of $400 million, the commission said, and this fall’s crop is shaping up at least as well. Growers report above-average yields for 2026, with harvested area expected to come in slightly higher than last season.
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Nearly 92,000 Acres and $400 Million in 2025
The commission’s figures were reported in a June 29 FreshPlaza report on the state’s sweet potato outlook, which described North Carolina as the leading sweet potato production region in the United States. The commission brings together more than 300 growers and industry partners and is led by executive director Michelle Grainger. The same report noted that the U.S. is the world’s leading sweet potato exporter, and that chips, purées, ready-to-eat meals and snacks are growing segments for the crop.
The 2025 total marked a clear step up. In 2024, North Carolina farmers harvested 86,500 acres of sweetpotatoes and produced more than $254.5 million worth of the crop, according to the North Carolina Farm Bureau’s Field Family farm facts, which counts about 350 commercial sweetpotato farmers in the state.
The June report also put the crop in a global frame, citing a worldwide sweet potato market valued at almost $5 billion and projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2033. It also pointed to several decades of university research partnerships covering the whole production chain, from variety development to storage and transport.
That 2025 crop showed up on holiday tables across the country, often next to the same handful of sides. This rundown of 9 Thanksgiving table classics that have been on American tables for generations shows how fixed that menu has become, and households planning ahead can stock up using this guide on how to freeze fresh green beans to enjoy all year.
The 2026 Harvest Is Running Above Average
This fall’s numbers look strong so far. Norman Harrell, extension director in Wilson County, said this season’s sweet potato yields exceeded the seasonal average, according to an Oct. 30 FreshPlaza report on the state’s harvests. The commission reported similar results statewide despite challenging weather at the start of the growing season, and Grainger said domestic and international demand for sweet potatoes has increased.
Most of the state’s production sits along the Interstate 95 corridor, according to NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which says the crop can be grown in 50 to 60 of the state’s 100 counties. Travelers driving that stretch toward the holidays pass through farm towns that rarely make the tourist maps, though a list of 33 picture-perfect small towns in America is a reminder of how much of the country’s character lives off the interstate.
Top State Since 1971, and the Official State Vegetable
North Carolina’s lead is not new. The state has been the top sweetpotato-producing state since 1971, according to the same Farm Bureau farm-facts page, which also notes that the sweetpotato had been the official State Vegetable of North Carolina for 30 years as of 2025. The state’s growers spell it as one word, as in the commission’s name. That stretch covers more than 5 decades of holiday menus, including the era recalled in this list of 15 foods from the ’60s most boomers loved with a passion.
Those operations belong to a long line of American family farms, and the machines that worked them over the past century are featured in this look at 10 tractors that powered American family farms through the 20th century.
Research has helped keep the state ahead. NC State breeders Craig Yencho and Ken Pecota developed the Covington variety, which the university describes as more stable across fields and seasons than the older Beauregard, and NC State engineer Mike Boyette developed a storage system in the 1990s that moves air through large facilities to hold temperature and humidity in range. That system made year-round shipping possible, the university said, and Boyette has said that with the right conditions the roots can be stored for a year.
From the Field to the Holiday Casserole
For home cooks, storage is the practical takeaway. The Farm Bureau says sweetpotatoes should never be refrigerated unless they are cooked, because temperatures below 55 degrees damage their quality and flavor and can make them bitter. That puts raw sweet potatoes in a pantry or cupboard rather than the produce drawer, at least until they are baked, mashed or turned into a casserole.
The holiday role is well established. Candied sweet potatoes, cooked with ingredients such as brown sugar, marshmallows or maple syrup, are often served in the United States on Thanksgiving, according to the Wikipedia entry on candied sweet potatoes, which describes the casserole version as mashed sweet potatoes baked with a brown sugar and pecan topping. The same entry notes that the sweet potato is the state vegetable of Alabama and Louisiana as well as North Carolina.
For this year’s Nov. 26 Thanksgiving, the outlook from growers is steady. The commission said in June that it expected the 2026 harvest to be at least similar to the nearly 92,000 acres brought in during 2025, with a possible slight increase, and the fall reports of above-average yields have so far backed that up.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: EDAWG117.JP – CC BY-SA 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
