Potato storage levels in the U.S. fall 14%

The 13 major potato U.S. states held 176 million cwt of potatoes in storage February 1, 2011, down 14 percent from a year ago.

Potatoes in storage accounted for 50 per cent of the 2010 fall storage states' production, three percentage points below February 1, 2010. Klamath Basin stocks totaled 2.50 million cwt on February 1, 2011, down 11 per cent from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon.

Potato stocks held by growers, dealers, and processors in Idaho on February 1 totaled 64.0 million cwt, 14.5 million cwt less than onhand February 1, 2010. This is the lowest February 1 stocks level since 1989. Disappearance, at 50.4 million cwt is down from lastyear's 54.0 million cwt. Stocks in the 10 Southwest counties totaled 3.00 million cwt, up from last year's 2.90 million cwt. The Othercounties' stocks, at 61.0 million cwt, were down from the 75.6 million cwt stored on February 1, 2010.