Spudman

Potato stocks down 14 percent from 2010

The 13 major potato States held 176 million cwt. of potatoes in storage Feb. 1, down 14 percent from a year ago, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Potatoes in storage accounted for 50 percent of the 2010 fall storage states' production, 3 percent below Feb. 1, 2010.

Potato disappearance, at 176 million cwt., was 3 percent below Feb. 1, 2010. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 16.6 million cwt., was down 12 percent from the same date in 2010. Processors in the 9 major states have used 91.9 million cwt. of potatoes this season, up 1 percent from the same period last year. Dehydrating usage accounted for 13.6 million cwt of the total processing, down 20 percent from last year.

Originally posted Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011