Potato crop taking root
By Jen Lynds
BDN Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Despite a slightly wet, cold spring, most of the potato growers across the state have their crops planted, according to industry officials.
“We have had rain as of late, and planting is weather dependent,” but 80 percent or more of the state’s farmers have their crops in the ground, Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board in Presque Isle, said earlier this week.
“They need warm, dry conditions,” Flannery said, adding that growers in the state are expected to plant 51,500 acres of potatoes this year.
Potato production in Maine has decreased steadily over the last 15 years, down from 65,000 acres in 1999 to about 54,000 last year, according to the Maine Potato Board. Potatoes are a $500 million industry in the state, Tim Hobbs, director of development and grower relations for the board, said Thursday.
There are between 275 and 300 farm operations scattered across the state, which “is down significantly from 20 or 30 years ago, but we really don’t keep track of the number of farmers anymore, just the number of operations,” Hobbs said.
Flannery said there weren’t a lot of retirements or turnovers in potato farming this past year. He acknowledged the industry loses several farmers every few years to death, change in occupation or other circumstances, but he said most farms in Maine remain family farming operations. Farming is not as popular as it once was because of changes in the industry, the economy, the state’s aging population and several other factors, but there are a number of fifth- and sixth-generation family farms.
“As a matter of fact, there was a grower in the St. John Valley who just sold his farm and his business; but his land [will continue] to be farmed, his entire operation will still be run and he is going to spend winters in Florida,” Flannery said.
Last year was a “pretty good” year for the industry, with the crop contracted at a good price, Flannery said.
“The fresh supply of potatoes was a challenge,” he added. “There was ample supply, and that kept the price lower.”
Competition from farmers in other states and countries remains a huge factor for the industry in Maine, Flannery said. Idaho, Washington and Wisconsin were the top three potato producing states, according to the potato board’s 2013 industry report, while Maine was No. 9. With 316,000 acres harvested in 2013, Idaho represented 33.1 percent of the total potato acreage harvested in the country. Maine, with 53,000 acres harvested, represented 3.9 percent of the total that year.
“It is difficult at times,” Flannery said. “There are no new products in the potato industry: You have potatoes, French fries, chips. You have to find niches.”
At Penobscot McCrum in Belfast, Jay McCrum, managing partner of the integrated firm that includes farming operations and a potato processing facility, said growers supplying the company are in line with others across the state when it comes to planting this season.
The family-owned company offers specialty potato products such as wedges and skins.
“All of the reports say that our growers are 80 percent done,” McCrum said Thursday.
“We work with 32 growers around the state,” he continued. “They need one to two more days to finish up. The ground is in beautiful shape. I bet most will be done this week or early next week.”
