North Dakota and Minnesota produced fewer potatoes in 2013 than 2012, according to new statistics from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The two states' 2013 potato crop was hurt by a late spring, which delayed planting, and inadequate late-summer moisture in some areas.
North Dakota produced 22.6 million hundredweight of potatoes in 2013, 9 percent less than the 25.2 million hundredweight in 2012. Average yield in the state fell to 290 hundredweight per acre in 2013 from a record 300 hundredweight per acre in 2012. Of the 81,000 acres planted to potatoes in 2013, 3,000 acres, or 4 percent, weren't harvested.
Minnesota produced 17.3 million hundredweight of spuds in 2013, 9.2 percent less than the 18.8 million hundredweight in 2012. Minnesota's average yields fell to 385 hundredweight per acre in 2013 from 400 hundredweight per acre the previous year. Of the 46,000 acres planted to potatoes in 2013, acres, or 2 percent, weren't harvested.
Nationwide, U.S. potato growers produced 395.3 million hundredweight in 2013, 5 percent less than the 418 million hundredweight in 2012. The 2013 potato crop averaged 425 hundredweight per acre, up from 423 hundredweight per acre in 2012. About 1 percent of U.S. potato acres weren't harvested last year.
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The Red River Valley of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota is the nation's leading producer of red potatoes and the only region that produces in volume for the chip, fresh, seed and process markets.
