CARIBOU, Maine — U.S. Senator Angus King stopped by the county last week to visit several local industries, with a strong focus on Aroostook agriculture.
Arriving at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 King toured County Super Spuds in Mars Hill, Smith Farms and Aroostook Hops in Westfield, Chase Organic Dairy and Maine Malt House in Mapleton, and took an hour to have lunch with and speak to the Caribou Rotary Club and the Inn and Convention Center.
“We looked at County Super Spuds’ new storage facility this morning,” King said in an interview before his speech. “I also spoke to Darrell McCrum about the state of the industry. I then went to Smith Farms in Westfield and was really impressed by their broccoli and cauliflower operations.”
King commented that Aroostook County is “ahead of the times in many ways,” citing the high-tech solar equipment at Smith Farms as an example of Aroostook’s agricultural ingenuity.
“Their equipment is all highly automated,” King said, “and they’ve even invented some of their own machines. They also have the largest private solar array in the state, which they use to provide about 20 to 25 percent of their own electricity on-site. It also tracks the sun; at night they go to sleep and lie back, then in the morning they come up and move to catch the maximum amount of energy as the sun goes through the sky. That’s as high tech as it gets anywhere. In most cases, the farmers up here are ahead of the curve.”
The senator addressed the Rotary modestly dressed in blue jeans from his three early morning farm visits on Wednesday, and spoke of the burgeoning hops industry and Aroostook County’s agricultural progress.
“It’s really interesting seeing Aroostook develop a brand new crop for which there is a great demand,” King said. “Beer has become a huge industry in Maine. I believe it now employs around 1,500 people.”
King added that, just two or three years ago, he observed 30 separate brewers at the Beer Summit, compared to 70 at this year’s event.
“Hops is a part of brewing beer that typically has to come from somewhere else,” said King. “Now it’s being grown right here in Aroostook County and is expanding.”
The former Maine governor also took a few moments to speak about the importance of wireless communications in rural areas, adding that he recently formed a Broadband Caucus with fellow senators from states with a similar need for high-speed internet.
“One of the things we’re working on in Washington is broadband access in rural areas,” King said. “It’s a huge issue in the area for agriculture and for just general commerce. It’s hard to maintain business today without a website and without broadband.”
King is aware that personal residences need access to high-speed internet just as much, and that broadband should ideally be accessible everywhere.
“If a realtor showed you a nice house but it didn’t have running water, you wouldn’t buy it,” King said. “Today, if a realtor said you could never have broadband internet service at a residence, you’d never buy it.”
The lawmaker from Brunswick was back on the road soon after his speech, and headed to Chase Organic Dairy Farm and the Maine Balt House, both in Mapleton. On the following day, King stopped by the Maine National Guard Armory, Maine Military Authority, LaJoie Growers, and Northern Girl in Van Buren.
Though Sen. King had a packed schedule, he complimented the people of Aroostook for giving him such a warm reception, adding that he “always loves coming up here.”
