Nebraska potato crop expected to be close to last year, acreage up again
Nebraska acres devoted to potatoes reached 20,000 in 2019, with the crop expected to produce about 9.26 million cwt of spuds.
Potato crop estimates for Nebraska would have production just about on par with 2018.
The USDA-NASS predicts the Nebraska crop will total 9,260,000 cwt, only 4,000 lighter than a year ago. A total of 19,700 of the 20,000 acres planted this year were harvested (98.5%). Yield per acre dipped slightly from 480 in 2018 to 470 this year.
Contrastingly, the USDA-NASS estimates for some of Nebraska’s major crops — including sorghum, soybeans and sugarbeets — are projected to see double-digit percentage decreases this year. The state’s top crop, corn, is expected to be down 1%.
Acreage devoted to potatoes in Nebraska has seen an uptick in recent years, rising from 16,500 in 2016 to 19,000 in 2017 and 19,500 last year.
The state was once one of the largest producers of potatoes in the U.S., although acreage plummeted during the 1930s Dust Bowl. Acreage bottomed out around 7,000 in the early 1970s before rebounding in recent decades, topping at 25,000 acres in the late 1990s.