AROOSTOOK COUNTY (NEWS CENTER Maine) - Maine was the top potato producer in the 1940s, but according to 2017 data from the USDA, the state now ranks tenth nationally, far behind states like Idaho and Washington.
Having a smaller share of the industry is not all bad, though. The director of the Maine Potato Board, Donald Flannery, says Maine's potato market is more stable today. That's because 60 percent of Maine potatoes become a "processed" product, like chips and French fries.
Flannery says that because fresh potatoes were a "commodity product," the farmers in the 1940s were at the will of whatever yield was predominant across the county. "If the yield was high across the county, prices were low. If the yield was low, prices were high. It was very volatile."
Flannery says the processed market gives farmers more stability. "With contracting potatoes, you've got some more stability there. Your contract price isn't going to vary that much year to year."
Maine potato farmers like Darrell McCrum of County Super Spuds have found their niche in the competitive world market through the processed potato industry. The majority of their potatoes go to Frito-Lay, McCain and Cape Cod potato chips. McCrum says, "If you're eating a Cape Cod potato chip from New York to New England, from September 1st to July 4th, you're eating a potato that was made on this farm."
Today, just ten percent of Maine potatoes goes towards the "fresh" market; approximately 20 percent goes towards the "seed" market.
With less demand for a high quantity of potatoes, Maine growers like McCrum can focus on quality. Most farmers in Maine are practicing "rotation," in which the crops planted on each plot of land rotate every three or four years. Each crop takes and leaves different nutrients from the soil, so by rotating the crops, the soil becomes much healthier.