December 1 United States potato stocks up 9%

In the United States, the 13 major potato States held 265 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2009, up 9 percent from a year ago but slightly below December 1, 2007. Potatoes in storage accounted for 69 percent of the 2009 fall storage States' production. Potato disappearance, at 120 million cwt, was 5 percent below December 1, 2008 and down 9 percent from 2007. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 14.1 million cwt, was up 11 percent from the same date in 2008 but 1 percent below 2007.

In Idaho, Potato stocks held by growers, dealers and processors on December 1 totaled 96.5 million cwt, 11.5 million cwt more than on hand December 1, 2008. Disappearance, at 34.5 million cwt is up from last year’s 31.5 million cwt. Stocks in the 10 Southwest counties totaled 5.60 million cwt, up from last year’s 4.20 million cwt. The Other counties’ stocks, at 90.9 million cwt, were up from the 80.8 million cwt stored on December 1, 2008.