Feb 18, 2013Potato stocks up, value down
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that the 13 major potato states held 214 million cwt of potatoes in storage on Feb. 1, up 14 percent from a year ago.
The 2012 potato crop is valued at $3.91 billion, down 3 percent from the 2011 value of $4.04 billion. According to NASS, the 2012 price is $8.39 cwt compared to the 2011 price of $9.41 cwt.
The total value of 2012 U.S. crop production is estimated at $226 billion, up 6 percent from the 2011 total of $212 billion.