Potatoes
All potato production in 2021 totaled 410 million cwt, down 2 percent from the 2020 crop. Harvested area, at 923,600 acres, was up 1 percent from 2020.
2021 Potato Production Down 2 Percent
All potato production in 2021 totaled 410 million cwt, down 2 percent from the 2020 crop. Harvested area, at 923,600 acres, was up 1 percent from 2020. The average yield of 444 cwt per acre was down 17 cwt from the previous year.
The value of all potatoes sold in 2021, at $3.91 billion, increased 7 percent from the previous year. The average price, at $10.20 per cwt, was up $0.90 from 2020. The quantity of potatoes sold from the 2021 crop totaled 383 million cwt, down 2 percent from 2020. Quantity sold accounted for 93 percent of 2021 production, unchanged from the previous year.
Growers from the 13 estimating States sold 268 million cwt of raw potatoes to processors from the 2021 crop, down 1 percent from 2020. Table stock sales totaled 94.4 million cwt, down 7 percent from last season. Seed sales of 19.1 million cwt for 2021 were down 1 percent from 2020. Sales for livestock feed, at 1.24 million cwt for 2021 were up 5 percent from 2020.
Shrinkage and loss was estimated at 23.4 million cwt for 2021, down slightly from 2020. Growers kept 3.58 million cwt for seed, livestock feed, and home use on their own farms, down 21 percent from 2020.
United States potatoes used for processing totaled 281 million cwt, up slightly from 2020. Potatoes used for chips and shoestrings totaled 60.3 million cwt, up 2 percent from the previous year. Frozen french fries and other frozen products utilized 171 million cwt of raw potatoes, up 2 percent from 2020. Potatoes used for dehydrating totaled 40.6 million cwt, down 10 percent from 2020. Canning use, at 2.18 million cwt, was down 16 percent from the previous year. Other products made from potatoes utilized 7.20 million cwt of potatoes, an 11 percent increase from 2020.
