Maine Farmers Exchange expects strong market with great quality potatoes

Bob Davis, president of Maine Farmers Exchange, commonly referred to as MFX, in Presque Isle, ME, told The Produce News that table stock harvesting in the state was 85 percent complete.

“We have had some rain in the past week,” said Mr. Davis. “We could wrap up harvesting in a couple of days if the weather holds. Growers here have from September 15 to October 15 to get their potatoes out of the ground. With a little luck, we could be wrapped up in the next three to four days.”

Mr. Davis said the quality of Maine’s potato crop this year is the best he has seen in many years. Last year, growers were plagued with too much water and blight, so this year’s good crop is an added blessing.

“We planted 59,000 acres this year — up a little from last year — but we’ll only be harvesting 55,000,” he said. “There were some low-lying areas and edges of fields that suffered some moisture damage early in the growing season.”