PRESQUE ISLE – As the Thanksgiving holiday nears, Maine’s potato growers are grateful for yet another successful harvest. Excellent growing and harvesting conditions resulted in a high quality crop.
Photo courtesy of Northern Maine Community College
Officials with the Northern Maine Community College, the NMCC Foundation and the Campaign for the County’s College thank officials with Cary Medical Center for their recent contribution to the NMCC major gifts campaign. Pictured are, from left: Brian Hamel and Robert Clark, campaign tri-chairs; Raynold Gauvin, chair of the NMCC Foundation; Timothy Crowley, NMCC president; Scott Hunter, chair of the Cary Medical Center board of directors; Kris Doody, Cary chief executive officer and tri-chair for the NMCC major gifts campaign; and Betty Hatch, chair of the finance committee for the Cary board.
Potatoes were planted on 57,000 acres this year, yielding 295 cwt (hundred weight) per acre. This translates to about 29,500 pounds of potatoes per acre or roughly 1.6 billion pounds of potatoes harvested this fall. Maine typically ranks seventh or eighth in the nation for potato production.
Of potatoes grown in Maine, about 65 percent are used for processing, supplied to companies such as McCains, Frito Lay, Penobscot Frozen Foods, and Naturally Potatoes; 20 percent are seed potatoes, transported to states along the east coast and down into Florida; and 15 percent are table stock, sold fresh.
Speaking of fresh, the Maine Potato Board encourages people throughout the state to buy and prepare fresh Maine potatoes this Thanksgiving, thereby, supporting local farmers and the state’s Buy Local campaign.
A Maine Thanksgiving supports the Maine economy. According to a recent posting on idealbite.com, which offers ideas for living green, “If 10,000 households spend their Thanksgiving meal dollars on local food, we’ll invest about $381,000 into our own communities.”
Buying local also benefits the environment by lowering emissions and saving energy. But bottom line, it simply supports agriculture – an industry vital to and embedded in Maine’s past, present, and future.
There are about 380 potato growers in Maine, from Aroostook County to the western mountain region around Bethel and Fryeburg. The total impact of the potato industry on the state’s economy is $540 million in sales, 6,100 jobs, over $230 million in personal income, and over $32 million in state and local taxes.
To find Maine potatoes, consumers should look for the Maine Quality Trademark – a blue, white, and red State of Maine trademark that is typically carried on all bags of Maine potatoes, even on private labels. Recipe ideas using Maine potatoes can be found at www.mainepotatoes.com/recipes.html.
