Potato Production Grows

Wisconsin potato production in 2020 totaled 28.8 million hundredweight (cwt), up 70,000 cwt from 2019, according to the latest potato summary from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Wisconsin saw a sharp decline in potato production in 2018. It has since been rising, but has not reached levels prior to 2018. America’s Dairyland ranks No. 3 in the nation for potato production.

The state’s potato growers planted 69,000 acres, down 2,000 acres from 2019. Harvested acres in 2020 were reported at 68,500, down 1,500 acres from the previous year. Average yield per acre was up from 410 cwt in 2019 to 420 cwt in 2020.

Price per cwt, at $12.20, was up from the previous year’s $11.80. Total value of production of the Wisconsin potato crop increased from $339 million in 2019 to $351 million in 2020.