USA: Maine farmers harvest fewer potatoes after rainy growing season

Owner Bret Butler used Loring as a backup to store part of his large crop that year. Credit: Hannah Catlin / Aroostook Republica Maine potato growers harvested about 70 million fewer pounds of potatoes than in 2022, likely caused by the state's unusually wet weather. Nearly everywhere in Maine, rain damaged crops like hay and increased pest activity. Potato farmers faced having to leave some overly saturated potatoes behind. Potatoes have reigned for decades as Maine's No. 1 food crop, with a value of $258 million last year. Although the numbers were smaller this year, producers still gathered the third biggest crop in the last five years. In spring 2023, farmers planted 53,000 acres of potatoes. They hauled in 17.4 billion pounds this fall, according to the United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Production averaged 16.8 billion pounds from 2019 to 2023. This year's harvest yielded 33,000 pounds per acre, just beating the five-year ...