WASHINGTON (RFD-TV) — U.S. potato production in 2024 totaled 421 million hundredweight, a 4 percent decrease from the previous year, according to the latest Potatoes Annual Summary from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Harvested area dropped to 927,000 acres, also down 4 percent, while yields slipped to 454 hundredweight per acre, a decrease of four from 2023.
The crop’s total value in 2024 was $4.60 billion, representing an 8 percent decrease from the previous year.
Average prices fell to $11.70 per hundredweight, a decrease of $0.60 from 2023. Growers sold 390 million hundredweight, representing 93 percent of production. Sales included 269 million hundredweight to processors, 99.3 million as table stock, and 20.3 million as seed. Feed use declined sharply to 1.35 million hundredweight, a 14 percent decrease.
Shrinkage and loss declined to 26.2 million hundredweight, while growers kept 4.64 million hundredweight for on-farm use, a 20 percent drop.
Processing use reached 274 million hundredweight, a five-percent decrease from 2023, with the most significant declines in frozen products (down seven percent) and chips (down three percent). Dehydrated products held steady, while canning and other specialty uses rose.
China’s stricter inspection rules prompt Cargill to pause soybean exports from Brazil, briefly lifting U.S. soybean prices as traders anticipate potential shifts in global trade, as export demand remains supportive across all major U.S. commodities.
March 13, 2026 12:57 PM
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Suderman joins Tony St. James in the RFD Studios to discuss how geopolitical tensions are triggering global transport disruptions, new inflation pressures, and other challenges for agriculture to navigate.
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RealAg Radio’s Shaun Haney shares insights from new Real Agri-Studies research surrounding the relationship between farmers and their lenders and what it reveals about the current farm economy.
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Dr. David Anderson with Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension discusses how geopolitical tensions and the Middle East, along with export disruptions in the Chinese market, will shape cattle markets in the months ahead.
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Energy shifts influence diesel and fertilizer costs.
March 12, 2026 05:00 AM
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Ben Kurtzman with American Farmland Trust discusses the growing pressure on farmland and ranchland and the steps being taken to help conserve farms and ranches across the country ,as unrest in the Middle East adds more obstacles for producers.
March 11, 2026 03:18 PM
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