USDA Revision: Potato Stocks Up 11 Percent From February 2009

The 13 major potato States held 203 million cwt of potatoes in storage February 1, 2010, up 11 percent from a year ago and 2 percent above February 1, 2008. Potatoes in storage accounted for 53 percent of the 2009 fall storage States' production, 3 percentage points above February 1, 2009.

Klamath Basin stocks totaled 2.80 million cwt on February 1, 2010, unchanged from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon. Potato disappearance, at 181 million cwt, was 3 percent below February 1, 2009 and down 9 percent from 2008. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 18.7 million cwt, was up 11 percent from the same date in 2009 and 2 percent above 2008.

Processors in the 9 major States have used 90.4 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 9 percent from the same period last year and down 15 percent from 2 years ago.

Dehydrating usage accounted for 17.1 million cwt of the total processing, down 7 percent from last year and 19 percent below the same period in 2008.