Tour helps lawmakers put face to potato industry
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — More than 20 state lawmakers participated in the Maine Potato Board’s semi-annual legislative tour July 13-15 giving them an inside look at the region’s potato industry.
“We do it every other year in a non-election year so the people on the tour will be in Augusta next year,” said Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board. “We started this because we believed there were a lot of people in Maine, particularly in the Legislature, who didn’t understand or didn’t have any exposure to agriculture and the potato industry. We felt it would be beneficial to us if we started some type of an effort to get them some exposure to it.”
While Flannery and Tim Hobbs, director of development/grower relations for the Maine Potato Board, testify regularly in Augusta on various agricultural issues, Flannery said the tour is a way for legislators to “look growers in the eye, ask the question and get honest answers.”
“We don’t have to fill up a bus and take growers to Augusta,” said Flannery. “We’re bringing Augusta to them. Of all the things we do, this is one we’ll always keep. It’s a no-brainer for the benefit we’re getting out of it.”
Assistant House Majority Leader Andre E. Cushing III (R-Hampden) said “it’s important for us as legislators to get out and meet people that we affect by the bills that we pass.”
“It’s very good — particularly on a tour like this — to be working with the industry organization to meet with a variety of people — the processors, the folks who do the research, the farmers from seed and processing to tablestock, so you understand the dynamics of it,” he said. “It’s very helpful.
“It was good to talk with the farmers, processors and the folks who support the industry like equipment dealers, for example, to understand the long-range planning that they have to do and how we should be very careful in Augusta with the bills that we pass that have a direct, adverse impact on their ability to access water, permitting regulations, etc. as everything here is interconnected.”
Cushing said it’s good to now be able to put a face with a name.
“Now when we get into the heart of an issue, if I’ve got a question, I’ve got a name and a face and I can pick up the phone and call somebody and know that what they’re telling me is going to be straight information,” he said, noting that the tour was a very productive and worthwhile event. “I would like to come back at some point and check the pulse on bills that we may have passed and see if they’ve hurt or helped the industry and what we could do to correct or improve that.”
Rep. Herbert E. Clark (D-Millinocket) said the tour was a “great opportunity” for legislators to gain insightful knowledge that could help them when voting in Augusta.
“A lot of people don’t realize what northern Mainers are going through and I think I can be a voice for northern Maine and let them know what the farmers’ needs are,” he said. “I’m glad such a large group of legislators turned out for the tour.
“All the stops have been extremely informational. It’s been a great group of people who have welcomed us with open arms,” said Clark. “I come from a potato family background; my grandfather had a farm in Crystal, and I learned the hardship that growers go through. There are no guarantees when they plant that seed that there’s going to be a potato there down the road. Anything I can do to make their job easier will be beneficial to everybody.”
Clark said he will tell his colleagues in Augusta how important it is to attend the legislative tour.
“That’ll be the first thing that comes out of my mouth,” he said. “It will help them get the information they need to make a good judgment call down the road.”
This year’s legislative tour featured visits to the Maine Seed Potato Board Porter Seed Farm in Masardis, McCain Foods in Easton, Theriault Equipment in Presque Isle, LaJoie Growers in Van Buren, Mark Tarr’s farm tour in Washburn, University of Maine Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle and Flewelling Farm tour in Easton.
Also attending the tour were Rep. Bobbi Beavers (D-South Berwick), Rep. Dean Cray (R-Palmyra), Rep. Jane Eberle (D-South Portland), Rep. Jane Knapp (R-Gorham), Rep. Jeffery Gifford (R-Lincoln), Rep. Joyce Fitzpatrick (R-Houlton), Rep. Maeghan Maloney (D-Augusta), Rep. Peter Edgecomb (R-Caribou), Rep. Peter Kent (D-Woolwich), Rep. Philip Curtis (R-Madison), Rep. Russell Black (R-Wilton), Rep. Stacey Guerin (R-Glenburn), Rep. Terry Hayes (D-Buckfield), Rep. Helen Rankin (D-Hiram), Speaker of the House Robert Nutting (R-Oakland), Rep. Jim Dill (D-Old Town), Rep. Kenneth Fredette (R-Newport), Sen. Michael Thibodeau (R-Waldo), Sen. Thomas Martin (R-Kennebec), Sen. Roger Sherman (R-Houlton) and Sen. Nichi Farnham (R-Penobscot).
