U.S. sweet potato area harvested in 2021 totaled 152,700 acres (data collected only in California, Mississippi and North Carolina), off just 2% from 155,300 acres in 2020 and 4% higher than 146,700 acres in 2019.
North Carolina is the top-ranked sweet potato state, according to USDA statistics, with 104,700 acres harvested in 2021. That is less than 1% down from 105,300 acres in 2020 and up 7% from 97,700 acres in 2019, according to USDA figures.
Mississippi’s harvested acreage of sweet potatoes was 29,500 acres in 2021, unchanged from 2020 and up 7% from 2019, the USDA said.
California’s harvested sweet potato area totaled 18,500 acres in 2021, down 10% from 20,500 acres in 2020 and 14% down from 2019, according to the USDA.
Production down
U.S. sweet potato utilized production in 2021 totaled 28.85 million cwt, down 5% from 30.04 million cwt in 2020 and down 6% from 2019. North Carolina’s utilized sweet potato production was 18.3 million cwt in 2021, up 9% from 16.7 million cwt in 2020 and about unchanged from 2019.
Mississippi’s utilized sweet production was 4.4 million cwt, off 25% from 2020 but up 4% from 2019. California’s utilized sweet potato production was 6.1 million cwt in 2021, according to the USDA, down 18% from 2020 and down 25% from 2019.
Value up
U.S. sweet potato crop value was up in 2021, according to the USDA. The nation’s sweet potato value was rated at $680.4 million, up 2% from $668 million in 2020 and up 3% from $661 million in 2029.
The value of the North Carolina sweet potato crop was $391.9 million in 2021, up 17% from $332 million in 2020 but down 1% from 2019.
The value of the Mississippi sweet potato crop was $103.5 million in 2021, down 15% from $332 million in 2020 and up 38% from $75 million in 2019.
California sweet potato value was $184.9 million, down 14% from $213.6 million cwt and down 2% from $189 million in 2019.
The overall value of the U.S. sweet potato crop was rated $23.60 per cwt, up 6% from $22.20 per cwt in 2020 and up 9% from $21.60 per cwt in 2019.
Fresh market numbers
The USDA said the value of U.S. utilized fresh sweet potato production in 2021 was $604.2 million, up slightly from $599.3 million in 2020 and up 4% from $579 million in 2019. The sweet potato fresh market value per cwt in 2022 was $27.10, up nearly 10% from $24.70 per cwt in 2020 and up 9% from $24.90 in 2019.
