Potato Release March 2004

Potato stocks, held for all purposes on March 1, 2005 by New York growers, dealers, and processors, totaled 700,000 hundredweight (cwt.), the same as a year ago. The USDA’s New York Agricultural Statistics Service estimated disappearance in February 2005 at 600,000 cwt.,17 percent below last year's disappearance of 700 thousand cwt. Storage accounted for 14 percent of the 2004 potato production, up 3 points from a year ago.

The 15 major potato States held 168 million cwt of potatoes in storage March 1, 2005, up 1 percent from last year and 2 percent above 2003. Potatoes in storage account for 42 percent of the 2004 fall storage States' production, 1 percentage point above last year.

Disappearance of 235 million cwt from the start of harvest to March 1, is down 1 percent from last year and 3 percent below two years ago. Shrink and loss, at 24.6 million cwt, is up 9 percent from last year and 10 percent above the same date in 2003.

Processors used 119 million cwt of 2004 crop potatoes so far this season, down 1 percent from a year ago and 5 percent below two years ago. February usage, at 18.4 million cwt, is 2 percent below both last year and two years ago. Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon, processing increased 2 percent from a year ago, while Washington and the rest of Oregon processing decreased 1 percent from last season. Dehydrating usage accounts for 23.7 million cwt of the total processing, down 9 percent from last year and 15 percent below the same date in 2003.

Western States held 118 million cwt of potatoes in storage on March 1, up 4 percent from last year but 2 percent below two years ago. Montana's potato stocks are up 14 percent from last year, Idaho's storages hold 10 percent more, and Colorado's potato sheds stored 4 percent more than last year. Oregon's potato stocks are down 18 percent and Washington's sheds hold 2 percent less than last year. California's stocks are unchanged from a year ago.

Central States accounted for 40.0 million cwt of potato stocks on March 1, down 6 percent from last year but 12 percent above two years ago. Michigan's potato stocks are down 24 percent, Minnesota potato sheds stored 8 percent less than last year, and Wisconsin's stocks decreased 2 percent. Nebraska and Ohio potato stocks combined decreased 15 percent from last year. North Dakota's sheds are the only sheds in the Central States storing more potatoes than last year, with an increase of 1 percent.

Eastern States stored 10.8 million cwt of potatoes on March 1, up 5 percent from last year and 19 percent above two years ago. Maine's potato sheds hold 6 percent more than last year, while New York and Pennsylvania's sheds remain unchanged from a year ago.

State	Crop of 2003			Crop of 2004
State	Production	Stocks Mar. 1, 2004 2/	Percent of Production	Production	Stocks Mar. 1, 2005 2/	Percent of Production
	1,000 cwt.		Percent	1,000 cwt.		Percent
CA	3,528	1,300	37	3,876	1,300	34
CO	23,652	10,700	45	23,148	11,100	48
ID	123,180	58,000	47	131,970	64,000	48
ME	17,030	8,900	52	19,220	9,400	49
MI	15,015	5,100	34	13,650	3,900	29
MN	22,330	9,600	43	18,920	8,800	47
MT	3,339	2,800	84	3,551	3,200	90
NE	9,744			9,288
NY	6,510	700	11	5,184	700	14
ND	27,440	13,000	47	26,765	13,100	49
OH	1,097			1,080
OR	20,991	11,000	52	19,775	9,000	46
PA	3,375	700	21	2,640	700	27
WA	93,150	29,500	32	93,810	29,000	31
WI	32,800	11,200	34	30,450	11,000	36
Other States		3,780			3,220

15 States	403,181	166,280	41	403,327	168,420	42

	The USDA NASS New York Field Office "Fact Finders for Agriculture"
NY Publications	Email Subscriptions	Home