=========================================================== New England Agricultural Statistics Service - - - a field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture Aubrey R. Davis, Director Phone: (603) 224-9639 22 Bridge St, 3rd Floor Fax: (603) 225-1434 PO Box 1444 Internet: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ Concord, NH 03302-1444 E-Mail: nass.nh@nass.usda.gov =========================================================== Ag Review December 2004 Volume 24, Number 12 December 29, 2004 The following is an abbreviated version of the report. The entire document is available as a PDF file on the Internet through: http://www.nass.usda.gov/nh/ =========================================================== A special "THANK YOU" goes to New England producers and agri-businesses who have helped us by completing surveys via mail, telephone, or personal interviews. This issue contains the results of monthly and quarterly surveys. In This Issue: Chickens: Layers and Eggs Dairy Products Milk: Monthly Productions and Price Potatoes: Prices, Acreage, Production, and Stocks POTATOES: Maine's 2004 potato production is estimated at 19.2 million cwt (hundredweight), 13 percent above 2003 production and the largest crop harvested in the state since 1996. Record high yields offset a 3,500 acre decline in harvested acreage. The December 1 forecast placed acres harvested at 62,000 acres; yields averaged 310 cwt per acre. Crop growth was excellent through mid-August with timely rains and sun promoting superior growth until heavy rains hit. This caused severe flooding in many fields in the St. John Valley when the river overflowed its banks and forced growers to abandon fields. An estimated 1,500 acres were left unharvested in 2004 in the state. Prolonged rains interrupted needed spray schedules, increased the incidence of disease, and resulted in numerous tuber quality problems. Extremely dry conditions during September accelerated the pace of crop harvest. Growers had 75 percent of the crop dug by October 3, well ahead of the five-year average of 60 percent. Results from the 2004 Potato Objective Yield (POY) Survey placed the average number of hills per acre for all potato varieties planted in Maine at 11,969 hills per acre, up 240 hills per acre from the 11,729 hills per acre planted in 2003. On average, growers harvested 9.3 tubers per hill in 2004, compared with the 8.9 tubers per hill average in 2003. Tuber quality was improved from a year ago, with the percentage of tubers grading out as US #1 (potatoes which meet the requirements for US #1, as stated in U.S. Standards for Grades of Potatoes, USDA, AMS) above 2003 across all types. Further results from the 2004 Objective Yield survey will be published on January 12, 2005 in the Maine Annual Potato Size and Grade Report. - Page 1 of 2 Pages - Potato farmers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island also enjoyed excellent growing and harvesting conditions during the 2004 growing season. Massachusetts growers harvested 2,500 acres with yields surpassing all records, averaging 320 cwt per acre. Rhode Island potato farmers harvested 500 acres and yields averaged 350 cwt per acre, also establishing record yields in the state. POTATO STOCKS: Maine potato stocks on hand for December 1, 2004 totaled 15.0 million cwt, 11 percent above 2003's December 1 holdings. Disappearance to December 1 totaled 4.2 million cwt, above the disappearance a year earlier due to excessive losses from potatoes breaking down in storage in 2004. Storage accounted for 78 percent of Maine's total production, on target with the previous five-year average of 78 percent. Of the Maine stocks on hand December 1, 49 percent were russets, 45 percent were round white varieties, three percent were red varieties, and three percent were long whites. The 15 major potato states held 272 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2004, up one percent from last year and three percent above 2002. Potatoes in storage account for 67 percent of the 2004 fall storage states' production, one percentage point above last year. Disappearance of 132 million cwt of potatoes is down three percent from last year and 8 percent below two years ago. Shrink and loss, at 16.8 million cwt so far this season, is up 12 percent from last year and eight percent above the same date in 2002. Processors in the nine major states used 70.7 million cwt of potatoes this season, down two percent from a year ago and eight percent below two years ago. Dehydrating usage accounts for 13.4 million cwt of the total processing, down six percent from last year and 15 percent below the same date in 2002. MILK PRODUCTION: Milk production in Vermont totaled 204 million pounds for November 2004, down one percent from November 2003. There were an estimated 145,000 milk cows on Vermont farms during November 2004, unchanged from the previous month and a decrease of 1,000 head from the previous year. Milk production per cow averaged 1,410 pounds, a decrease of five pounds per cow from November 2003. - Page 2 of 2 Pages - *****************end of report*********************