Feb. 1 potato stocks off 3% from a year ago

Potato-producing states held 198 million hundredweight, or cwt, in storage on Feb. 1, down 3% from the same date a year ago, according to the USDA. 

In its Feb. 17 report, the USDA said potatoes in storage accounted for 48% of the potato states' 2021 production compared with 49% a year earlier.

The indicated potato disappearance, at 211 million cwt, was down 2% from the same period last year. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 15.8 million cwt, was 2% higher than the same time last year. 

Processors in the eight states used 114 million cwt of potatoes for the season, up 6% from February 2021.

State inventories

Potato stocks in Idaho totaled 70 million cwt, the USDA said, down 5.5% from a year ago. Washington state potato stocks of 40 million cwt on Feb. 1  were down 12% compared with a year ago.

Colorado potato stocks of 11.2 million cwt were off 15% compared with a year ago.

On the other hand, Maine potato stocks totaled 11 million cwt, 64% more than the same time a year ago. Minnesota's potato stocks of 10.4 million cwt were up 20% from year-ago levels, according to the USDA.

The smaller inventories of fresh potatoes are finding higher prices this year, according to USDA data.

Shipping point prices for size 70-count Idaho russet burbank potatoes were running $14-$17 per carton of 50 on Feb. 17, up from $7.50-$9 per carton the same time last year.