Maine Tales. Potato Economics 101. Easton, Maine. Circa 2012.

    A week or two back, a candidate from Florida running for Governor here in Maine spoke before a group of Maine farmers. Weren’t they surprised when he bad-mouthed Maine Potato farmers, calling them “unproductive.” On the other hand, maybe they weren’t too awful shocked because he’d just got done reaming out Maine’s Dairy farmers for "high milk prices" and being small and inefficient.

     Anyway, in Aroostook County it’s pretty well understood that insulting your neighbors is not the best way to make friends or win votes. What’s more, fact is, after growing Potatoes here for 200 years Aroostook farmers have figured out how to grow potatoes as well as anybody anywhere.

Passive Income

     A family friend up here grows potatoes on a pretty big scale. He sells his spuds to the local McCain’s French Fry plant up in Easton. About ten years ago our friend was telling us firsthand about the business of growing commodity potatoes. Over the intervening years, both the costs and the pay rate have crept upwards. However, the ratio of costs-to-income has remained roughly the same. And so, those numbers from a decade ago pretty fairly reflect the situation, now as it did in those days.

     Our farmer friend explained back then, that the typical yield for conventional Russet Burbank Potatoes would be three-hundred-thirty ‘sacks’ per acre (33,000 pounds). Potatoes made into French Fries have a 50% recovery rate. Meaning, that one acre of Potatoes would generate 16,500 pounds of French Fries. The retail value of French Fries was $6/lb. So that single acre of Potatoes would have generated retail sales of French Fries worth $99,000. Had all of that acre’s worth of French Fries been sold in restaurants located right here in the State of Maine, it would have brought in just shy of $7000 in tax revenues thanks to Maine’s 7% Meals Sales Tax. Without having lifted a finger that lucky State Treasurer would have a nice tidy sum to spend on salaries, support and improvements to our fair State.

Where's That Easy Money?
 
     Now, if you’re down at the Capitol in Augusta, it might seem like that $7000 revenue just appears like magic. But here in farm country where we sweat and toil, we know better. In order to grow those 330 sacks, the Maine Potato farmer must own a staggering amount of equipment, land and buildings. He must pay the banker, the insurance company, the fuel company and the taxing authorities, along with an army of local suppliers. To grow the crop the farmer must buy the seed, and the fertilizer, and the spray material.

     He must hire a crew to help plant the crop, tend the crop, harvest the crop, and pile the crop into storage. Eventually at odd times during the long Winter, the farmer - on short notice - must gather together a crew of neighbors to ‘rack over’ (grade) the potatoes. Deploying a small fleet of a half-dozen or more big ‘wheeler’ trucks, he must in rapid succession load the trucks and haul the potatoes - without freezing - to the Easton plant in a revolving-loop procession, all within the confines of the narrow delivery window dictated by the plant operator.

The Bottom Line

      For all the farming effort, for all the grief, for all the risk, for that single acre of spuds that Aroostook Potato farmer was rewarded the princely sum of $2300. That works out to less than $7/sack or 7 cents/pound.

      And that $2300 is a third of the $7000 the State of Maine hauled in just for sitting pretty.

      Is it likely we can really learn much about “productivity” from one lost politician who has yet to actually make anything during his lifetime besides hot air? Doesn’t seem too likely.

Caleb, Jim & Megan

Pan Fried Potatoes.

Wood Prairie Family Farm Photos.

“Mud ‘em In. Mud ‘em Out!” It was one wet Fall over 40 years ago when we first heard this crusty, well-worn weather observation muttered by an older and fully-determined Maine Potato farmer.  The expression references the observed weather pattern that a rainy Spring will often be followed by a wet Fall, classically with a dry Summer sandwiched in between.  So, Maine Potato farmers after having gone through tough planting from wet ground last Spring, kept tucked in back of mind the premonition that hard, muddy digging could be ahead for 'digging' this Fall.  Thankfully, while rain regularly interrupted early digging, Hurricane Ian missed us and the weather has transitioned to drier weather.  In this shot, following a four-day-break due to rain, we work to pull our Finnish 'Juko' Potato Harvester through a mud hole. At left, Caleb is crouching and attaching a special shock-absorbing red tow rope with a clevis to the drawbar of our Oliver 1850 Diesel. Similarly, Justin is bolting the other end to the Oliver 1750 pulling the Juko. Jim is driving the 1750. We had success getting unstuck on the second try.