Northwest leads spud stocks lower

Dave Wilkins
Capital Press Staff Writer

February 15, 2007

U.S. potato stocks on Feb. 1 were down 1 percent from a year ago, due mostly to declines in the Northwest, according to a report released today by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Idaho was down 2 percent from a year ago, Washington 10 percent and Oregon 19 percent.

California's spud stocks were 18 percent higher on Feb. 1 than a year ago.

Several states in the Midwest posted significant gains in stored spuds.

Stocks in Wisconsin increased 11 percent from a year ago, Michigan gained 13 percent and North Dakota posted a 28 percent gain.

As a group, Western states held 131 million hundredweight of potatoes on Feb. 1, a 6 percent decline. Central states held 44.7 million hundredweight, a 13 percent increase from a year ago.