Feb 20, 20242023 stocks near halfway point in North Dakota, Minnesota
North Dakota growers, dealers, and processors held 13.4 million cwt of potatoes in storage on Feb. 1, with current stocks representing 51% of 2023 production, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Total stocks are defined as all potatoes on hand, regardless of use, including those that will be lost through future shrinkage and dumping.
Russets accounted for 52% of the total, down from 55% in 2023. Whites represented 27%, up from 24%. Reds, at 17% of total stocks, were up from 16%, while yellows, at 4%, were down from 5%.
Minnesota growers, dealers, and processors held 9.8 million cwt of potatoes in storage on Feb. 1, with current stocks representing 54% of the 2023 production. This compares to 53% in 2022. Russets accounted for 82% of the remaining total compared to 87% last year.
The NASS report, issued four times a year, is available online.
Farm totals shrink
The total of number of farms in both Minnesota and North Dakota declined from 2022 to 2023, according to NASS.
Minnesota farms shrank by 200 to 65,300 in 2023, while the number of farms and ranches in North Dakota dropped by 300 to 24,800.
Total land in farms for Minnesota during 2023 was 25.4 million acres, with the average farm size of 389 acres up 1 acre from 2022.
Land in farms and ranches in North Dakota totaled 38.5 million acres, unchanged from 2022, with the average size of operation increasing 18 acres to 1,552.
Farms and ranches in North Dakota with less than $100,000 in agricultural sales dropped 400 farms, while operations with more than $100,000 in agricultural sales increased 100 farms.
More farm statistics are available online.
