Okay, so potatoes are not the haul of choice by many truckers that haul produce, even if the product is one of the more durable and least risky perishable items to transport. The rates on potatoes are too often less than what you can get on many other fresh fruits and vegetables. Still, the spud can provide a lot of loading opportunites during the winter months when volume on many other items is substantially down, or non existent.
As of December 1st, there were 11 percent more potatoes remaining in USA storages than a year ago. That is the most potatoes remaining to be hauled in 12 years.
Potatoes in storage account for 68 percent of the 2012 fall crop. That is two percent more than on Dec. 1, 2011, according to the USDA.
Depending upon whether you haul potatoes, or are a potato shipper in another state, you thank or blame Idaho. It has 101 million cwt. of spuds remaining in storages, up from 90 million last year at the same time. This accounts for over 40 percent of the available potatoes remaining in USA storages.
Washington’s Dec. 1 stocks rose from 57 million to 59 million cwt., Wisconsin’s from 17.5 million to 21 million cwt., Oregon’s from 17.9 million to 18.9 million cwt., North Dakota’s from 13 million to 16.8 million cwt. and Minnesota’s from 10.6 million to 12 million cwt.
The only major potato-producing state to see a decline from Dec. 1, 2011, to this year was Colorado, where stocks fell from 15.4 million to 15.2 million cwt.
Potato disappearance as of Dec. 1 was 132 million cwt., up 2% from last year. Shrink and loss, at 13.7 million cwt., was unchanged from last year.