North Dakota potato crop off by seven percent in 2007

The final numbers on in for the 2007 potato crop and production in North Dakota declined by seven percent from 2006, according to a report issued on Sept. 25 by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Final production in the state totaled 23.7 million hundredweight (cwt), which was harvested from 91,000 acres, which was also down seven percent from 2006. The yield for all potatoes for both 2007 and 2006 was 260 cwt per acre, while irrigated potato yields averaged 400 cwt per acre.

According to the North Dakota Field Office of the NASS the value of the potatoes sold from the 2007 crop totaled $147 million, which was down one percent from the 2006 crop, with the average price in 2007 at $6.90 per cwt. This compares to an average price of $6.45 for the 2006 crop and $6.80 for the 2005 production.