Maine’s potato harvest 'one of the best' in recent years
FILE photo
Potato farming in Maine saw a strong harvest in 2021.
Maine’s 20121 potato harvest looks strong, with 8,000 acres more than last year producing a crop, the Maine Potato Board said Wednesday.
In 2020, Maine farmers planted 51,000 acres and harvested 50,800 acres of potato, worth $152 million. This year looks even stronger with farmers seeing a larger-than-average crop of high-quality potatoes.
“The 2021 harvest has about 8,000 new acres of production, which is necessary to meet the demand for Maine potatoes,” Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said in a news release.
“The supply and quality of Maine Potatoes continues to be top notch and as a result, people continue to organically spread the word about the quality and versatility of our crop. The state of Maine can be proud of the continued popularity of the delicious Maine potato.”
The 2021 crop is showing good quality across all sectors: seed, table and processing. Seed potatoes are those with a purpose of being replanted, producing more potatoes. Table potatoes are those produced either commercially or independently with the intent of being used in homes or restaurants. And processing potatoes are those grown to be processed into refrigerated and frozen products or chips.
“This year is a complete turnaround from the 2020 crop; last year’s yield was well below average; the 2021 crop is one of the best potato crops we have seen in recent years. Quality is great and yields are above average," said Dominic LaJoie of LaJoie Growers LLC, a processing and seed firm in Van Buren.
“We’re also seeing above average yields, which is a testament to the hard work and planning by potato farmers throughout the state,” said Flannery. “The potatoes are looking great and tasting great, and this season is shaping up to be very successful by almost every measure.”
The 2021 harvest season will wrap up within the next few days.
Most Recent
Most Recent
I searched up how many potatoes are exsisting in Maine and this did not disappoint.
1 Comments