The USDA released their 2018 potato summary report and found that all potato production in 2018 totaled 450 million cwt, which is down slightly from the 2017 crop. Harvested area, at 1.01 million acres, was down 3 percent from 2017. The average yield of 443 cwt per acre was up 11 cwt from the previous year.
Spring potato final production for 2018 totaled 17.8 million cwt, 18 percent below the previous year. Harvested area, at 51,800 acres, decreased 17 percent from 2017. The average yield for spring potatoes was 343 cwt per acre, down 7 cwt from 2017.
Summer potato production was 17.8 million cwt for 2018, a 21 percent decrease from 2017. Harvested area, at 56,400 acres, was down 17 percent from 2017. The average yield of 315 cwt per acre was down 16 cwt from 2017.
Fall potato production was estimated at 414 million cwt for 2018, up 2 percent from the 2017 crop. Area harvested in 2018 was 906,600 acres, 1 percent below the previous year. The average fall potato yield, at 457 cwt per acre, was up 12 cwt from 2017.
The value of all potatoes sold in 2018, at $3.75 billion, decreased 3 percent from the previous year. The average price, at $8.90 per cwt, was down $0.27 from 2017. The quantity of potatoes sold from the 2018 crop totaled 420 million cwt, down slightly from 2017. Quantity sold accounted for 93 percent of 2018 production, unchanged from the previous year.
Growers from the 23 estimating States sold 289 million cwt of raw potatoes to processors from the 2018 crop, up 2 percent from 2017. Table stock sales totaled 106 million cwt, 3 percent below the previous year. Seed sales of 24.1 million cwt were down 5 percent from 2017. Sales for livestock feed, at 697 thousand cwt, decreased 64 percent from 2017.
Shrinkage and loss was estimated at 25.5 million cwt for 2018, 2 percent above 2017. Potatoes used for livestock feed on farms where grown and home use totaled 556,000 cwt, a 37 percent decrease from the previous season. Growers kept 3.49 million cwt for seed on their own farms, down 1 percent from 2017.
Click here for the full report.
For more information: 
Sue King
USDA NASS
Tel: +1 202 690 8122
Email: sue.king@nass.usda.gov
www.nass.usda.gov