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Potato planting on schedule

The Michigan Potato Industry Commission reports planting is on schedule in the upper Midwest for potatoes and ahead of schedule in the Pacific Northwest. Development is behind in Missouri and North Carolina. Chipping companies may try to delay harvest as Florida expects to harvest a large crop.

April Potato Stocks in Michigan were estimated at 1.65 million hundredweight by USDA, about 10 percent of production. Potatoes in storage in the 13 major producing states were reported 130 million hundredweight, up 9 percent from last year. Processors used 3 percent more potatoes than last year.

Michigan is the eighth largest potato producer in volume, sixth in value, producing more that 15.7 million hundredweight of potatoes in 2014. Michigan is also the largest producer of chipping potatoes. Major producing states also include Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin.