Maine 2013 potato production down slightly
CONCORD, N.H. — Maine fall potato final production for 2013 is 15.7 million hundred weight (cwt), down slightly from the 2012 crop, according to Gary Keough, state statistician of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, New England Field Office. Harvested area, at 54,000 acres, is down 5 percent from 2012. The average yield of 290 cwt per acre is up 5 cwt from the previous year.
The value of all potatoes sold in 2013, at $149.4 million, decreased 9 percent from the previous year. The average price, at $10.50 per cwt, is down 50 cents from 2012. The quantity of potatoes sold from the 2013 crop totaled 14.3 million cwt, down 4 percent from 2012. Sales account for 91.3 percent of 2013 production, down 3.6 percent from the previous year.
Shrinkage and loss is estimated at 1.13 million cwt for 2013, up 74 percent from 2012. Potatoes used for livestock feed on farms where grown, home use, and seed on their own farms totaled 230 thousand cwt, up 53 percent from 2012.
Nationally, potato production in 2013 is revised to 435 million cwt, down 1 percent from the estimate in the January Crop Production 2013 Summary and 6 percent below the 2012 crop. Harvested area, at 1.05 million acres, is down 7 percent from 2012. The average yield of 414 cwt per acre is up 5 cwt from the previous year.
The value of all potatoes sold in 2013, at $3.93 billion, increased slightly from the previous year. The average price, at $9.71 per cwt, is up $1.08 from 2012. The quantity of potatoes sold from the 2013 crop totaled 404 million cwt, down 6 percent from 2012. Sales account for 93 percent of 2013 production, unchanged from the previous year.
Processors used 276 million cwt of raw potatoes from the 2013 crop, down 3 percent from 2012. Table stock sales totaled 104 million cwt, 12 percent below the previous year. Seed sales of 22.4 million cwt are down 5 percent from 2012. Sales for livestock feed, at 1.25 million cwt, decreased significantly from 2012.
Shrinkage and loss is estimated at 26.2 million cwt for 2013, 8 percent below 2012. Potatoes used for livestock feed on farms where grown and home use totaled 1.11 million cwt, and decreased significantly from the previous season. Growers kept 3.22 million cwt for seed on their own farms, down 2 percent from 2012.
