MAINE PUBLIC • September 19, 2022
Don Flannery, the executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said the drought was a wake-up call for a lot of growers who realized they need to prepare for extreme weather. Flannery said growers are taking steps to adapt to the heat, including rotating crops to reduce the stress on the soil. And Flannery estimates that about a third of Maine's potato crop now receives supplemental irrigation, which is a lot more than just a few years ago — but that costs money, which can be prohibitive for some. One of the biggest tools that the industry sees as a way improve crop resilience can be found at a Presque Isle research farm operated by the University of Maine, where Greg Porter leads the university's potato breeding and variety development program. One of the major goals, Porter said, is to create a tasty but stronger, more resilient potato.