January Potato Stocks Up 5 Percent from Last Year

The 13 major potato States held 238 million cwt of potatoes in storage Jan. 1, up 5 percent from last year and 8 percent above Jan. 1, 2006, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Potatoes in storage account for 59 percent of the 2007 fall storage states’ production, up 1 percentage point from last year. Klamath Basin stocks total 3.40 million cwt on Jan. 1, unchanged from last year. Klamath Basin includes California and Klamath County, Oregon potato stocks.

Disappearance of 163 million cwt. from the start of harvest to Jan. 1 is down slightly from last year but up 6 percent from 2007. Shrink and loss, at 16 million cwt., is down 1 percent from the previous year but 7 percent above the same date in 2006.

Processors have used 87.7 million cwt. of 2007 crop potatoes so far this season, down 4 percent from a year ago but 8 percent above 2 years ago. Idaho and Malheur County, Ore., total processing decreased 2 percent from a year ago, Maine’s total processing was 8 percent below the same date in 2007, and Washington and the rest of Oregon total processing was down 6 percent from last season. Dehydrating usage accounts for 16.7 million cwt. of the total processing, down 13 percent from last year but 7 percent above the same date in 2006.

Western states held 172 million cwt. of potatoes in storage on Jan. 1, up 10 percent from last year and 9 percent above 2006. Idaho’s potato stocks are up 5 percent from last year, Washington’s potato sheds held 27 percent more than last year and Oregon’s stocks increased 16 percent from last season. Montana’s potato sheds held 6 percent more stocks than last year and California’s potato stocks increased 7 percent from last season. Colorado’s potato stocks declined 13 percent from last year.

Central states accounted for 51.9 million cwt. of potato stocks on Jan. 1, down 5 percent from last year but 6 percent above the same date in 2006. Wisconsin’s potato stocks declined 5 percent from last year, North Dakotas’s sheds held 17 percent less, and potato stocks in Minnesota are 1 percent
below last season. Nebraska’s potato stocks decreased 8 percent from the same date in 2007. Michigan’s potato sheds held 17 percent more than a year ago.

Eastern states stored 13.2 million cwt. of potatoes on Jan. 1, down 12 percent from last year and 1 percent below 2007. Maine’s potato sheds held 12 percent less than last year, while New York’s potato stocks declined 14 percent from a year ago.