Insured Maine Crops - Potatoes
Potato Fact Sheet
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2011 FALL POTATOES
Fall potato production in Maine in 2011 was estimated at 14.0 million cwt (hundredweight), 12 percent below 2010, and the smallest crop harvested in the State since 1920. Prolonged wet conditions during the season spanned from planting through harvest and resulted in reductions in both acreage harvested and yields. The November 1 forecast placed 2011 acres harvested at 54,000 acres, 800 fewer acres than a year earlier. Yields averaged 260 cwt per acre in 2011, down 30 cwt per acre from 2010, and below the previous 5-year average of 287 cwt per acre.
Less than optimal planting and growing conditions got the 2011 crop off to a slow start, with field entry delayed due to heavy soils from prolonged rains. Maine’s crop was 100 percent seeded by mid-June with only 50 percent emerged, both planting and emergence ranged from 1-2 weeks behind schedule. Heavy rains in late June/early July caused serious wash outs in fields, and wet conditions placed growers on a 5-day spray schedule to combat late blight. Rains continued throughout the month, making July the wettest month on record in northern Maine. Wet weather continued into August, with some locations in Aroostook County receiving over 10 inches. Rains continued into September. When skies did clear, farmers were digging well into the night to get the crop out of the soggy ground. Many farmers included the drowned-out acreage as harvested, and losses were reflected in lower yields. Tubers at some locations went into potato houses wet, and breakdown in storage is expected.
Results from the 2011 Potato Objective Yield (POY) Survey showed increases in the percentage of potatoes grading as U.S. Number 1. Round whites averaged 78.7 percent U.S. Number 1, up from 70.2 percent a year earlier. Long whites averaged 66.9 percent U.S. Number 1, compared with 66.2 percent in 2010. POY data also confirmed the increases in losses from excessive moisture: 16.4 percent of round whites and 17.9 percent of long potatoes were culls. Potato farmers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island also battled wet conditions throughout the growing season.
Potato statistics courtesy of New England Agricultural Review, a field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) , United States Department of Agriculture. Gary Keough, Director. The entire document and more statistics are available as a PDF file on Agricultural Review, December 2, 2011, Volume 31, Issue 12.
Potato Links
University of Maine Potato Integrated Pest Management
Potato Integrated Pest Management
The 2011 Potato Acreage, Yield, Size and Grade, full report as of January, 2012 can be found on National Agricultural Statistics Service Site.