About 112 million cwt. of potatoes had yet to ship from the top 13 U.S. spud-producing states as of April 1, 3 percent fewer than two years ago.
Storage potatoes on April 1 made up 29 percent of the season’s total production, down 1 percent from April 2012, according to the latest Potato Stocks report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The report did not include statistics from April 2013 because that report was suspended by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in the wake of budget cuts linked to sequestration.
Among other reports cut for cattle, fish, rice, milk and other commodities, the agency announced it suspended the monthly potato stocks report and all non-citrus fruit, nut and vegetable forecasts and estimates.
Potato disappearance as of April 1 was 278 cwt., up 4 percent from April 2012.
By state, Idaho had 45 million cwt. of potatoes in storage on April 1; Washington 23.5 million cwt.; Oregon 7.6 million cwt.; Colorado 6.6 million cwt.; North Dakota 6.5 million cwt.; Wisconsin 6 million cwt.; Minnesota 5 million cwt.; and Maine 4.4 million cwt.
Source: The Packer