Potatoes Annual Summary: 2017 US Potato Production Up Slightly

Earlier this month, USDA-NASS published its annual report Potatoes 2017 Summary; September 2018.

The data indicate a slight increase of the total 2017 potato production in the United States compared to the previous year.

Potato Production

All potato production in 2017 totaled 442 million cwt, up slightly from the 2016 crop. Harvested area, at 1.02 million acres, was up 1 percent from 2016. The average yield of 431 cwt per acre was down 2 cwt from the previous year.

Spring potato final production for 2017 totaled 19.8 million cwt, 30 percent above the previous year. Harvested area, at 57,700 acres, increased 20 percent from 2016. The average yield for spring potatoes was 343 cwt per acre, up 27 cwt from 2016.

Summer potato production was 21.7 million cwt for 2017, an 11 percent increase from 2016. Harvested area, at 65,500 acres, was up 8 percent from 2016. The average yield of 331 cwt per acre was up 8 cwt from 2016.

Fall potato production was estimated at 401 million cwt for 2017, down 1 percent from the 2016 crop. Area harvested in 2017 was 901,700 acres, 1 percent below the previous year. The average fall potato yield, at 444 cwt per acre, was down 3 cwt from 2016.
 

Value of the production

The value of all potatoes sold in 2017, at $3.77 billion, increased 1 percent from the previous year. The average price, at $9.10 per cwt, was up $0.02 from 2016.

The quantity of potatoes sold from the 2017 crop totaled 413 million cwt, up 1 percent from 2016. Quantity sold accounted for 93 percent of 2017 production, unchanged from the previous year.
 
Destination sold potatoes

Growers from the 22 estimating States sold 279 million cwt of raw potatoes to processors from the 2017 crop, up 4 percent from 2016.

Table stock sales totaled 107 million cwt, 6 percent below the previous year.

Seed sales of 24.7 million cwt were down 6 percent from 2016.

Sales for livestock feed, at 1.82 million cwt, increased 68 percent from 2016.
 
Destination unsold potatoes

Shrinkage and loss was estimated at 24.7 million cwt for 2017, 7 percent below 2016. Potatoes used for livestock feed on farms where grown and home use totaled 854, 000 cwt, a 26 percent increase from the previous season. Growers kept 3.53 million cwt for seed on their own farms, down 2 percent from 2016.

Potato use for processing by product / sector

United States potatoes used for processing totaled 282 million cwt, down 1 percent from 2016.
  Potatoes used for chips and shoestrings totaled 58.8 million cwt, down 3 percent from the previous year.

Frozen french fries and other frozen products utilized 170 million cwt of raw potatoes, down slightly from 2016.

Potatoes used for dehydrating totaled 45.8 million cwt, down 5 percent from 2016.

Canning use, at 1.86 million cwt, was down 4 percent from the previous year.

Other products made from potatoes utilized 6.16 million cwt of potatoes, a 3 percent increase from 2016.