U.S. sweet potato acreage and production down in 2021, but value up

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.