Agriculture watch | Rainy weather has affected more than one Maine industry: tourism, fisheries and, most recently, agriculture are the prime examples
This summer’s cool, rainy weather has affected more than one Maine industry: tourism, fisheries and, most recently, agriculture are the prime examples. The result on this year’s crops so far looked to be a mixed bag, ranging from better than last year to better luck next year. Here’s what’s cropped up recently in the headlines:
Despite a sluggish start to the season, the Maine Potato Board is predicting a strong harvest this year, perhaps even topping last year, according to the Bangor Daily News. This news comes after late blight sprung up in parts of Aroostook County, requiring the state to authorize emergency applications of fungicide. Tim Hobbs, director of development and grower relations for the board, told the paper farmers planted 56,000 acres of potatoes, approximately the same amount as last year, and expect the yield to top last year’s 1.6 billion pounds of potatoes harvested. The value of Maine’s potato harvest was a little more than $145 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Thanks to the summer’s yo-yoing weather, this year’s wild blueberry crop likely won’t break any records — but it is still expected to be healthy. As the harvesting season winds down, industry experts so far are reporting a “very good crop,” David Bell, executive director for the Maine Wild Blueberry Commission, told the Bangor Daily News. The rains earlier in the summer delayed the harvest season by a week, and then the sunny, dry August weather threatened to shrink the berries, according to the Ellsworth American. The heavy rains from Hurricane Bill and Tropical Depression Danny proved timely in staving off a major dry-up, but this year’s harvest still won’t be able to beat last year’s banner crop, which weighed in at 90 million pounds worth nearly $55 million. A fungus common in Canada called Valdensinia leaf spot, however, showed up in Maine fields for the first time this summer and could become a problem in the future, the paper reported.
This year’s tomato crop, however, was hit hard by a widespread bout of late blight throughout the Northeast, forcing stores to remove their tomato plants in order to stem the spread. Farmers in Maine have reported a dismal tomato season, forcing them to seek out produce from other farms to sell at their stands, according to the Sun Journal. Farmer Whiting’s in Auburn lost 75% of its tomato crop, and the River Valley Farmers Market in Mexico also reported slim pickings for tomatoes.
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