Potato Stocks Sink 9%

WASHINGTON - Dec 15/08 - SNS -- Potato stocks in the 13 major potato States held 242 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2008, down 9% from a year ago and 7% below December 1, 2006, reports the USDA.

Potatoes in storage accounted for 66% of the 2007 fall storage States' production, slightly below December 1, 2007. Klamath Basin stocks totaled 4.00 million cwt on December 1, 2008, down 5% from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon. Potato disappearance, at 123 million cwt, was 6% below December 1, 2007 and down 5% from December 1, 2006.

Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 13.0 million cwt, was down 8% from the same date in 2007 and down 2% from 2006. Processors in the 9 major States have used 71.8 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 2% from the same period last year and down 3% from 2 years ago.

Dehydrating usage accounted for 10.7 million cwt of the total processing, down 16% from last year and 26% below the same period in 2006.

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