The potato harvest in the United States is smaller than last season. The US is thus heading for the smallest harvest since 2013, according to the yield estimate of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The total potato yield is estimated at 18,7 million tons. That is 1,6% less than last year when the yield was 19,1 million tons. The area has grown over this period from 371.000 hectares in 2020 to 384.000 hectares this year. Yields were lower in nine of the thirteen potato producing states. Idaho remains the leading state for potato production with a harvest of 6 million tons of potatoes. That is 2% less than last year. Number 2 is Washington with 4,2 million tons, 6,4% less compared to last year.
Extreme heat
The lower yields in these states are largely due to the heat dome that occupied the northwestern US last summer. In Washington in particular, the mercury rose to temperatures well above 40 degrees. An outlier on the other side is Maine (on the east coast), where the yield was 800.000% higher than last year, at 36,9 tons. This is partly due to growth in the area, but mainly due to a higher yield per hectare, which was 30% higher compared to a year earlier.