United States potato processors used less potatoes so far this season, compared to the same period last year. The amount of potatoes in stock at December 1, 2012, was up 11 percent compared with last year.
Potato processors in the nine major states have used 73.2 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 4 percent from the same period last year. Dehydrating usage accounted for 13.5 million cwt of the total processing, up 1 percent from last year.
Processors in Washington and Oregon (excluding Malheur County) used 30.7 million cwt of raw potatoes to December 1, 2012, 1.1 million cwt less than the 31.8 million cwt processed during the same period last year and 3.0 million cwt more than the 27.7 million cwt processed during the same time frame two years ago.
Processing to December 1, 2012 in the Pacific Northwest (WA, OR, ID) accounted for 21.7 percent of the 2012 production.
Dehydrating usage in the nine processing states, excluding starch and flour, accounted for 13.5 million cwt of raw potatoes in 2012, compared to 13.4 million cwt in 2011.
The 13 major potato states held 280 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2012, up 11 percent from a year ago. Potatoes in storage accounted for 68 percent of the 2012 fall storage states' production, up 2 percent from the previous year.
Potato disappearance, at 132 million cwt, was 2 percent above December 1, 2011. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 13.7 million cwt, was unchanged from the same date in 2011.
SOURCE: USDA