March 1 potato stocks report

March 1 potato stocks report

The 13 major potato States held 170 million cwt of potatoes in storage March 1, 2010, up 11 percent from a year ago and 4 percent above March 1, 2008. Potatoes in storage accounted for 44 percent of the 2009 fall storage States' production, 3 percentage points above March 1, 2009. Klamath Basin stocks totaled 2.20 million cwt on March 1, 2010, up 10 percent from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon. Potato disappearance, at 214 million cwt, was 2 percent below March 1, 2009 and down 9 percent from 2008. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 20.9 million cwt, was up 12 percent from the same date in 2009 and 3 percent above 2008. Processors in the 9 major States have used 108 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 7 percent from the same period last year and down 14 percent from 2 years ago. Dehydrating usage accounted for 19.8 million cwt of the total processing, down 8 percent from last year and 22 percent below the same period in 2008.