US production of fall potatoes for 2012 forecast at 422M cwt., up 8% from 2011, USDA says; 991,500 acres harvested, 6% above 2011 estimate

Nevin Barich

WASHINGTON , November 21, 2012 (press release) – Michigan's 2012 potato crop was forecast to be 16.3 million hundredweight (cwt), nearly 8 percent higher than a year ago, according to Jay Johnson, Director of the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. Planted acres, at 47,500, increased 2,500 acres from last year. Harvested acres, at 46,000, was up 2,000 acres from 2011. Average yield, forecasted at 355 cwt per
acre, was 10 cwt higher than the previous year. The first potato stocks estimate for the 2012 crop year will be released December 14, 2012.

Nationally, production of fall potatoes for 2012 is forecast at 422 million cwt, up 8 percent from 2011. Area harvested, at 991,500 acres, is slightly above the previous forecast and 6 percent above the 2011 estimate. The average yield forecast, at 426 cwt per acre, is up 10 cwt per acre from a year ago.

In Idaho, growing conditions were favorable, leading to a yield that, if realized, will be the highest on record. Total potato production is forecast to be the second highest on record. Record high yields are also forecast in North Dakota where the potato crop benefitted from favorable spring weather and adequate water supplies. In Michigan, growers reported good yields despite the high temperatures and dry conditions experienced during the summer.

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