Potato harvest in full swing in Maine's Aroostook County

It’s potato harvest time in northern Maine and thanks to one of the longest stretches of nice weather since midsummer, farmers from one end of Aroostook County to the other are looking to get as much of their crop in as they can while the the sun shines.

“Probably after this weekend 65 percent of the [crop] will be out of the fields,” according to Tim Hobbs, director of development and grower relations with the Maine Potato Board. “You can dig a lot of potatoes if you have good weather.”

And a lot of potatoes are dug every year in Maine.

According to the Maine Potato Board’s 2012 industry review report, farmers in Maine produced just over 1.65 billion pounds of potatoes last year.

And, while those production numbers are down from an industry high of 1.92 billion pounds in 2004, Hobbs said Maine is still very much a national player in potato production.

“We are sixth in the country for production by acres,” he said. “It is still a tough business to be in.”

Maine was responsible for just under 6 percent of the nation’s potatoes in 2012.

For the moment, the harvest appears to be on schedule, Hobbs said, with many farmers putting in long hours before predicted rain hits the area this week.