The National Agricultural Statistics Service says the 13 major potato states held 130 million cwt of potatoes in storage April 1, up 8 percent from a year ago and 12 percent above April 1, 2006.
Potatoes in storage accounted for 33 percent of the 2007 fall storage states' production, up two percentage points from April 1, 2007.
Klamath Basin stocks totaled 1.15 million cwt on April 1, down 18 percent from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon.
Potato disappearance, at 270 million cwt, was 1 percent above April 1, 2007, and up 4 percent from 2006. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 21.6 million cwt, was down 3 percent from the same date in 2007 but up 7 percent from 2006.
Processors in the nine major states have used 144 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 1 percent from the same period last year but up 9 percent from two years ago. Dehydrating usage accounted for 29.3 million cwt of the total processing, down 9 percent from last year but 10 percent above the same period in 2006.