County’s potato harvest begins

By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
    PRESQUE ISLE – Fall is in the air, potatoes are in the ground, and crews are heading to the fields as the annual potato harvest season is now upon us.
    According to Donald Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, this year’s growing season has been “an interesting one.”
    “We started off fairly early planting the crop, and then we had two months of ‘duck weather’ [June and July],” said Flannery. “The crop survived that amazingly well. When the rain stopped and the ground dried up, I think everyone was relatively pleased with how the crop withstood it.
    “It has been extremely dry since then … late August and early September have been very dry, and I think that’s taken the top off a little,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have the yields that some were expecting because of the dry weather, but the quality is excellent and everybody seems very happy with that.”
    Flannery said 56,000 acres of potatoes were planted in Maine this year, approximately the same number as last year.
    “Even though the fields were wet, I don’t think we lost a lot of acreage,” he said. “We’ll harvest pretty close to what we planted. I don’t think there will be a great loss there.”
    While late blight was a concern earlier in the season, Flannery said growers have experience with the issue and know how to react.
    “Growers were able to get in and get some crop protectants on and take care of it,” he said, “so while it was spread throughout the state, throughout The County we were able to keep it under control. Once we got all the dry weather over the last few weeks, that pretty much took care of any problems that we may have had.”
    Flannery said a few farmers have already begun harvesting their crop.
    “There’s been some table stock harvested to pack, and there are some chip growers that have been doing some early harvest to go to the chip plant,” he said. “The guys who have been harvesting so far are just harvesting whatever the market needs at this point in time.
    “I think some of the table stock and seed growers will be going this week, but they’re trying to hold up to see if we can get a little more moisture,” said Flannery. “The little rain that we’ve had in recent days helps, but it’s still quite dry … there’s nothing to give potatoes any cushioning against stones. It’s good to carry a certain amount of soil through the harvester so you’re not losing some of the smaller potatoes, and you’re also giving them some protection as you’re bring the potatoes up through. Right now, you wouldn’t have any soil that would go up any more than two feet through the harvester. Rain also helps set the potato skins and helps mature them. That being said, by the end of this week, I think we’ll have the vast majority of everyone getting started.”
    The 49th season of the Potato Picker’s Special, which is broadcast from the WAGM-TV studio in Presque Isle, began Sept. 16 and will run for four weeks.
    “The original purpose – and it’s still what we believe the purpose is today – is to get grower information out to growers’ crews,” said Timothy Hobbs, director of development/grower relations for the Maine Potato Board, who begins his seventh year as the program’s co-host, alongside Flannery. “Instead of a grower, for example, calling 20 people to let them know, ‘It rained last night. We’re going to go at 9:30 this morning,’ they call one place. They call the studio and then we broadcast that information. That was – and is – the purpose of Potato Picker’s Special.”
    During the hour and-a-half broadcast, morning anchor Dick Palm and weatherperson Kelly O’Mara provide news and weather updates. Picker’s also asks a trivia question each day, and breakfast is brought in each morning for the hosts and guests.
    Flannery said he wishes everyone a productive and injury-free season.
    “We hope everybody is safe,” he said, “and that we can get through the harvest without any real adverse weather.”