Maine growers didn’t just get lucky in 2021. Farmers in the state have been laying the groundwork for years to strengthen production, writes Stephen Armstrong in this news story for News Center Maine.
Maine’s potato farmers are coming off a good year, he writes, and Robbie Irving knows it. “Early on in our harvesting season, we certainly knew that we were in for a good one,” Irving, vice president of Irving Farms, said.
His Caribou farm wasn’t the only one digging up a bumper crop in 2021. The U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers show potato production in Maine grew 39 percent compared to the year before.
Gregory Porter, Professor of Agronomy at the University of Maine, said farmers in the state have been laying the groundwork for years to strengthen production. That includes things such as irrigation, targeted fertilizing, and planting new potato varieties.
