Potato Stocks Down on Year

WASHINGTON 0 Apr 13/06 - SNS -- The 13 major potato States held 114 million cwt (100 pound units) of potatoes in storage April 1, 2006, down 11% from last year and 9% below April 1, 2004, for comparable States, according to the latest USDA stocks report.

Ohio and Pennsylvania were dropped from the potato stocks program starting with the 2005 storage season. Potatoes in storage account for 31% of the 2005 fall storage States' production, down 1 percentage point from last year.

Disappearance of 259 million cwt from the start of harvest to April 1, is down 5% from last year for comparable States. Shrink and loss, at 21.6 million cwt, is down 20% from last year for comparable States.

Processors have used 133 million cwt of 2005 crop potatoes so far this season, down 2% from a year ago and 3% below 2 years ago. Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon, total processing decreased 2% from a year ago and Washington and the rest of Oregon total processing dropped 3% from last season. Dehydrating usage accounts for 27.2 million cwt of the total processing, down 9% from last year and 10% below the same date in 2004.

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