According to a USDA report issued this week, the major potato States held 267 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2019, down 4 percent from December 1, 2018 for comparable States.
Potatoes in storage accounted for 63 percent of the States’ 2019 production. For comparable States, potatoes in storage accounted for 67 percent of the States’ 2019 production, unchanged from the previous year.
Potato disappearance, at 155 million cwt, was down 2 percent for comparable States from December 1, 2018. Season-to-date shrink and loss was reported as 13.3 million cwt.
Processors in the 8 major States used 76.3 million cwt of potatoes for the season, up 3 percent from December 2018.
The potato stock estimates in this report are based primarily on a survey conducted in the first week of December in the potato producing States. The potato stocks survey is a probability survey that includes a sample of approximately 885 growers, processors, and storage facilities that are contacted to obtain the quantity of potatoes stored as of the first of the month, as well as monthly shrinkage and loss information.
Read the full USDA report (including detailed figures) here
