Seed board elects officers

MASARDIS — Between 180 and 200 potato growers and industry officials attended the annual meeting of the Maine Seed Potato Board on Thursday at the Porter Farm.

Frank Kearney of Mars Hill was elected chairman of the seed board during the annual session. Introduced by Agriculture Commissioner Bernard Shaw as new members of the seed board were Alan Sloan of Limestone, Brent Dorman of Milo and Gerald Flewelling of Easton.

Director of the Porter Farm, David Hammond, reported that 20,000 hundredweight of seed potatoes were sold at a cost of $26 to $29 per bag, depending on the generation of the seed.

This year, farm officials planted 99 acres of potato seed for 72 varieties. The farm also includes 11 acres of tissue culture material. In addition to seed generation, the farm has a contract with Monsanto Corp. to reproduce some genetically engineered potatoes that are resistant to insects and diseases.

The reproduced material will be used by the agricultural chemical company for field trials, Hammond said.

It also was reported that the seed farm will construct a $110,000 addition on the laboratory building, funding for which was appropriated by Congress. The building is scheduled to be completed in February, Hammond said.