Staff Writer
“Most Maine potato farms are family businesses. An individual grower typically functions as a business owner, employer, farm laborer, horticulturist and much, much more. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for producers to keep up with the state-of-the-art in potato pest management on their own, in addition to attending to the many other aspects of running an agricultural business,” said Jim Dill, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) coordinator for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension at the Twenty-Second Annual Maine Potato Conference and Trade Show held at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center recently.
The conference, which typically hosts farmers and farm-related speakers, vendors and salespeople, is designed for farmer’s enrichment, education and socializing.
“This conference is always very informative. Colleagues get together and talk shop,” said Kyle Blackstone of Caribou.
“We are all so busy at the same time so we never get to see each other during the growing or planting or digging seasons, so this is also a nice chance for us to just socialize with other farmers,” Larry Ireland of Presque Isle stated.
Socializing aside, there were 29 booths set up at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center for the conference and several hundred attendees from Aroostook County, Canada, all over New England, the northeast and the midwest. Scott Kierstead, president of the Aroostook County Cooperative Extension was the moderator for the 2007 event that included workshops from Pine Land Farms Natural Meats to pink rot fungicide options.
Sponsored by the Aroostook County Cooperative Extension, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Central Aroostook Young Farmers, the two day conference was a great success.
Among some of the larger issues facing area farmers, pesticide reduction is among the most discussed. Nearly half of the workshops during the two day event were centered around or at least mentioned pesticides in regard to food safety and how it relates to beetle or other pest resistance.
“The Maine potato industry is extremely interested in reducing pesticide usage while maintaining crop quality and yields. This interest derives from market demands for a high quality product; consumer concern about pesticide residues; and environmental and personal safety concerns, as well as escalating expenses associated with purchasing and applying pesticides,” said Dill.
