Oct 14, 2020

Washington potatoes valued at record-high $934 million for 2019, up 19%

The value of Washington-produced potatoes jumped 19% for 2019 to a record-high $934 million, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Washington produces more potatoes for processing, including frozen french fries, than any another state.

The total value of Washington’s 2019 agricultural production totaled $9.49 billion, down 2% from the revised previous year value of $9.68 billion.

• Apples remain the leading agricultural commodity in the state with a 2019 value of $1.96 billion. This is down 8% from the previous year. Apples represented 21% of the total agricultural value in 2019. In the previous year, apple’s share of the total was 22%.
• Milk remained in the second position and had value of production totaling $1.28 billion dollars in 2019, up 13% from 2018.
• All potato value of production moved up one position from the previous year to third in the state rankings. Potato value in 2019 was $934 million, up 19% from the previous year.
• All wheat, valued at $793 million, represented the fourth-highest value in the state. This was a 6% decrease from the previous year.
• Cattle and calves rounded out the top five with a value of $699 million, up 7% from the previous year.

These five commodities had a combined value of $5.67 billion, or 60% of the 2019 value for all commodities (excluding government payments). The same five commodities in 2018 had a combined value of $5.56 billion, 57% of the total value.

Record-high values of production were established for potatoes and hops. Value of hop production in 2019 was $476 million, up 11% from the previous year and 4% higher than the previous record high in 2017. Onion value of production entered the top 10, with a value of $181 million in 2019, an increase of 2% from the previous year.

There were notable commodities outside the top 10 that showed significant increases in value from the previous year. The value of blueberries reached a record high value of $153 million in 2019, up 10% from the previous year and 4% higher than the previous record in 2015. Barley value of production increased 39% to $29.9 million in 2019. The value of canola, at $22.3 million, increased for the fourth consecutive year. Five of the top ten commodities declined in value from the previous year, including apples, wheat, hay, sweet cherries, and grapes.

Other notable commodities that declined in value in 2019 were eggs, down 30% to $168 million, and all pears, down 31% to $145 million.