PHOTo / Fred Field
Caleb Buck harvests potatoes at Buck Farms in Mapleton, Aroostook County.
July 10, 2023
UMaine professor receives 'recognition' award from Maine Potato Board
The Maine Potato Board has selected a University of Maine professor and Aroostook County native to receive the Maine Potato Industry Recognition Award.
Gregory Porter, UMaine professor of agronomy, grew up on a potato farm in the County. He has dedicated his 38-year UMaine career to improving potato production in the eastern United States.
Porter has researched crop and soil management practices for improving the yield and quality of potatoes and other crops. In the past decade, he has released five varieties in partnership with the Maine Potato Board — Easton, Sebec, Pinto Gold, Hamlin Russet and the Caribou Russet, which has been highly successful with an estimated cash farm value of approximately $41 million in 2022.
“Dr. Greg Porter’s leadership in potato variety development and efforts to distill research from across the U.S. for Maine’s growers are shining examples of the land grant mission at work,” said Diane Rowland, dean of UMaine's College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station.” His dedication to science and finesse in plant breeding will have remarkable and broad benefits for many generations to come in Maine.”
The university’s potato breeding program, which Porter has led since 2007, allows student researchers to create new potato varieties that provide improved quality and marketing opportunities for growers while helping to solve pest management problems.
Porter has received several awards, including an Honorary Life Membership Award from the Potato Association of America and the new UMaine Presidential Innovation Award. He has been a Potato Association of America member since 1981 and served as vice president, president-elect and president.
From 1998 to 2002, he was senior editor of the “Production Management of the American Journal of Potato Research.” He received his doctorate from Pennsylvania State University.
Porter will receive the award later this month.
"As a product of the potato industry in Aroostook County myself, I know first-hand the incredible impact that Dr. Greg Porter has made on the industry, and how this impact will be felt for generations to come,” said Hannah Carter, dean of UMaine Cooperative Extension. “The potato varieties that have come out of his breeding program have not only contributed to Maine's economic impact but also to our international reputation of both quality and excellence in our industry. His legacy will continue to be felt with every record-breaking harvest and in all the ways our beloved potatoes are enjoyed."
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