Since majority of the state is still experiencing drought, Maine potatoes may suffer this year.
Approximately 80% of Maine is under some form of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The Maine Potato Board’s director of seed production is agronomist Jake Dyer. Conditions could still impede agricultural development, he warned, despite the fact that the droughts are more severe in the southern portion of the state.
“I’d say the growing conditions overall were favorable through June and for early part of July,” Dyer stated. “Toward the end of July, we were seeing quite regular, region-wide rainfall. And it has essentially dried up so far in August.”
The state won’t see any respite until early September, according to the National Weather Service. According to Dyer, potato farmers who have the resources to water their crops ought to do so until that time.
According to meteorologist Todd Foisy of the National Weather Service station in Caribou, he has already observed some farmers in the north adopting preventative measures.
Many farmers are irrigating their fields, as I have observed. We don’t always have to do that up here,” Foisy remarked. “So, [dry weather] definitely impacts agriculture significantly.”
According to the most recent assessment from the University of Maine, the Maine potato industry made around $1.3 billion in economic contributions to the state in 2022.
