Sep 18, 2020Final USDA tally for 2019 has potatoes sold at 395 million cwt, down 2%
All potato production in 2019 totaled 424 million cwt, down 2% from the 2018 crop for comparable U.S. states. Harvested area, at 937,300 acres, was down 1% from 2018 crop for comparable states. The average yield of 453 cwt per acre was down 1 cwt from the previous year for comparable states.
The value of all potatoes sold in 2019, at $3.94 billion, increased 11% from the previous year for comparable states.
The average price, at $9.94 per cwt, was up $1.16 from 2018 for comparable states. The quantity of potatoes sold from the 2019 crop totaled 395 million cwt, down 2% from 2018 for comparable states. Quantity sold accounted for 93% of 2019 production, unchanged from the previous year for comparable states.
- Growers from the 13 estimating states sold 276 million cwt of raw potatoes to processors from the 2019 crop.
- Table stock sales totaled 97.9 million cwt.
- Seed sales of 19.7 million cwt for 2019. Sales for livestock feed, at 1.53 million cwt for 2019.
- Shrinkage and loss was estimated at 25.0 million cwt for 2019, up slightly from 2018 for comparable states.
- Growers kept 4.61 million cwt for seed, livestock feed, and home use on their own farms, up 22% from 2018 for comparable States.
Processing use
U.S. potatoes used for processing totaled 283 million cwt, down 5% from 2018. Potatoes used for chips and shoestrings totaled 59.6 million cwt, down 5% from the previous year.
Frozen french fries and other frozen products utilized 174 million cwt of raw potatoes, down 3% from 2018. Potatoes used for dehydrating totaled 41.6 million cwt, down 15% from 2018.
Canning use, at 1.73 million cwt, was down 7 percent from the previous year. Other products made from potatoes utilized 6.03 million cwt of potatoes, a 9 percent increase from 2018.
Beginning in 2019, seasonal breakouts of potato estimates were discontinued. Only all potato estimates will be published. Also estimates for Alaska, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Virginia were discontinued.
Find other agricultural statistics for your county, state, and the nation at www.nass.usda.gov/.
