Maine potato growers harvested about 700 million fewer pounds of potatoes than in 2022, likely caused by the state’s unusually wet weather, as Paula Brewer reports for Bangor Daily News (BDN).

Nearly everywhere in Maine, rain damaged crops like hay and increased pest activity. Potato farmers faced having to leave some overly saturated potatoes behind. Though the numbers were smaller this year, producers still gathered the third biggest crop in the last five years.

Most of the crop goes to processors, including three in Aroostook County: McCain in Easton, Pineland Farms in Mars Hill and Penobscot McCrum in Washburn. Nearly three-quarters of what farmers planted this year was russets, which work well in processing. About a quarter of the crop comprised round white varieties.

Source: Bangor Daily News (BDN). Read the full story here
Photo: Workers from Butler Farms of Limestone watch a bin piler unload potatoes into a former military storage facility at Loring Development Center in October 2021. Credit: Hannah Catlin / Aroostook Republica via BDN