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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s potato growers had such a bumper crop this previous season that they stepped in to assist their huge brothers out west who had been quick on spuds.
Farmers from Maine shipped potatoes by rail for the primary time in 4 a long time this winter because of a powerful harvest within the state and warmth and dry climate that stymied farmers in famend potato-growing states like Idaho and Washington. The potatoes made their far more than 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) for processing, using in climate-controlled rail automobiles.
All instructed, 21 million kilos (9.5 million kilograms) of potatoes, nearly all from growers in northern Maine, flowed via a rail-connected warehouse owned by LaJoie Growers LLC. That equates to greater than 530 truckloads of potatoes, stated co-owner Jay LaJoie.
“It’s a great chunk of potatoes,” stated Don Flannery, govt director of the Maine Potato Board.
A lot of the Maine potatoes went to processors in Washington state, the place a lot of the french fries and different merchandise are exported. The shipments to Idaho had been seed potatoes, together with Maine’s Caribou russet, that’ll be planted this spring.
Chris Voigt from the Washington State Potato Fee stated processors had been grateful for the potato shipments, however they’re hopeful Maine growers’ providers aren’t required sooner or later.
The shipments got here to an early finish about two weeks in the past, occasion due to financial disruptions brought on by the struggle in Ukraine. But it surely was good whereas it lasted, serving to out potato processors in western states whereas lowering an oversupply of Maine spuds.
It additionally proved the worth of rail traces for agriculture, particularly throughout a scarcity of vehicles within the pandemic, LaJoie stated.
There’s no manner growers might have sourced sufficient tractor-trailers to haul the potatoes, however there occurred to be an out there rail line that connects to a LaJoie-owned warehouse in Van Buren.
The scarcity of truck drivers has contributed to supply-chain issues in the course of the pandemic.
“I don’t see transportation getting higher anytime quickly,” LaJoie stated.
Whereas Maine is thought for its well-known lobsters, the state was certainly as soon as the nation’s potato capital via World Warfare II. Different states later stepped up manufacturing within the Fifties. Idaho and Washington State are at present Nos. 1 and a couple of whereas Maine ranks ninth, in accordance with the USDA.
The weird scarcity of potatoes out west is a results of bizarre summer time climate.
A warmth wave with temperatures hovering above 100 levels Fahrenheit (38 levels Celsius) hit the Pacific Northwest in June, simply as potatoes had been beginning to develop. The end result was decreased yields, and decrease high quality, Voigt stated.
“The crops kind of shut down,” he stated.
The intense warmth decreased yields by almost 10% for potato growers in Idaho and Washington, whereas Maine potato yields grew greater than 30% because of good climate, in accordance with the U.S. Division of Agriculture.
In northern Maine, the harvest was so huge that growers scrambled to seek out storage. Some buildings on the former Loring Air Pressure Base had been enlisted for a last-minute house for the considerable tubers.
In the long run, it proved to be a profitable pilot program for rail supply that might be used once more if uncommon climate patterns persist, LaJoie stated. Plus Maine loved getting some consideration for its potato business because of the irony of David rendering help to the potato Goliaths.
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