Editor’s note: Aroostook County Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the National Resources Conservation Service are highlighting Aroostook’s female farmers as part of the United Nations declaration of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Maine is participating in various ways to showcase the essential roles that women play within all aspects of agriculture.
Kelli, Kristi and Katie
Goughan’s Farm, Caribou
Mark and Gloria Goughan started their potato farm with Mark’s dad in 1978. Now, almost 50 years later, Mark and Gloria’s three daughters are taking on their legacy.
Kelli, Kristi and Katie all grew up on the farm. Starting first as a potato operation, the farm morphed and changed into the now popular agri-tourism destination with berries, mini-golf and a corn maze, just to name a few.
Gloria Goughan, Maine’s Agri-Woman of the Year in 2011, ensured her daughters had an active role from a very young age.
“I think as soon as we were able to see over the counter, we were scooping ice cream,” Katie Goughan said. (Yes, the farm makes its own ice cream.)
All three women said once they were walking, they were in the fields picking strawberries or tending the fields. Kristi and Kelli both belonged to the Caribou FFA and won several local contests with mom Gloria as a coach.
That was the life they knew, but the sisters initially swore off farming. The three moved on for a time, Katie and Kelli as far as Orono and Kristi for a time in Limestone. But something about it just didn’t feel right. Missing home and missing family, the sisters felt drawn back to the farm, where today they are taking on what their parents started.
When asked about who oversees what, the answer was simple: “We all do it.”
At the heart of this operation is one word, “family.” All the work is shared. No one person checks the animals or runs the store. Their parents taught them early on to work together and to rely on each other, the three daughters said.
One example is the “fun with flags” the three have had in past years laying out the farm’s annual corn maze, a Goughan tradition since 2004. Laying the design out with flagging and survey equipment can be challenging.
The trio laughed and said while they can help with the maze, and have in some years, each is too much of a perfectionist. This year’s corn maze theme — the 250th anniversary of the United States — was delegated to others who are faster and have fewer dogs knocking over equipment.
Taking over a family farm presents numerous hurdles. Only about 30% of family farms successfully transition from the first generation to the second, and about 10% survive to the third. According to a study out of Iowa State University, only 8% of farms chose a woman as a successor.
Goughan’s Farm continues to break the mold of what a farm can look like, in both crops, tourism and now ownership. It doesn’t hurt that Katie, Kelli and Kristi have a strong female mentor in that of their mother. For now, the three aren’t looking to make their own stamp on the farm, just mastering the bits and pieces. With a farm as diverse as the Goughans’ operation, that is a challenge, but one the three are up to.
The farm truly is family centric, and it’s starting a new legacy with three strong sisters at the helm.
Helena Swiatek is the district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Central Aroostook, working with local growers to better manage their natural resources.
