US potato Stocks: use of potatoes for dehydrated products low

The 13 major potato States held 115 million cwt of potatoes in storage April 1, 2009, down 9 percent from a year ago and 5 percent below April 1, 2007. Potatoes in storage accounted for 31 percent of the 2008 fall storage States' production, slightly below April 1, 2008. Klamath Basin stocks totaled 1.45 million cwt on April 1, 2009, up 26 percent from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon.

Potato disappearance, at 253 million cwt, was 7 percent below April 1, 2008 and down 6 percent from 2007. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 20.6 million cwt, was down 7 percent from the same date in 2008 and 8 percent below 2007.

Processors in the 9 major States have used 134 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 7 percent from the same period last year and down 8 percent from 2 years ago.

Dehydrating usage accounted for 24.9 million cwt of the total processing, down 15 percent from last year and 23 percent below the same period in 2007.