Potato Stocks Down

WASHINGTON - Dec 15/05 - SNS -- The quantity of potatoes on hand in the United States is down 6% from last year at 253 million cwt (100 pound units) as of December 1, according to the USDA.

Ohio and Pennsylvania were dropped from the potato stocks program starting with the 2005 storage season. Potatoes in storage account for 68% of the 2005 fall storage States' production, 1 percentage point above last year.

Disappearance of 120 million cwt of potatoes is down 8% from last year and 10% below 2 years ago for comparable States. Shrink and loss, at 14.0 million cwt so far this season, is down 9% from last year and 6% below the same date in 2003 for comparable States.

Processors in the 9 major States have used 65.9 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 7% from a year ago and 9% below two years ago. Dehydrating usage accounts for 12.2 million cwt of the total processing, down 16% from last year and 14% below the same date in 2003.

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