Fries with that

There is no finer food than the french fry when it comes to the health of the Maine potato industry. The announcement by McCain Foods USA last week that it would build a potato-processing plant in Aroostook County that would require 15,000 acres of potatoes annually gives a boost to an industry that was slowly recovering after facing near death just a few years ago.

McCain Foods, already the largest potato processor in Maine with a recently expanded plant in Easton, has a manufacturing capacity of about 1,000,000 pounds of potato products per hour at its 55 plants in 11 countries. Its Easton expansion and now its plans for a $100 million plant at a site yet to be determined are signs that it is pleased to make even more fries here. Maine farmers and McCain employees should be congratulated for proving their value to this successful company.

The announcement comes just a couple of seasons after Maine farmers dropped to the industry-threatening level of 60,000 acres planted. That’s the line at which the supporting agricultural infrastructure is said to begin falling apart and is way down from the 150,000 or so acres planted a couple of generations ago, before widespread crop rotation. The number of acres planted now – approximately 65,000 – won’t increase by the 15,000 the new plant will demand because some farmers who currently grow tablestock are expected to convert to potatoes for processing, but even if the presence of the plant means that an additional 7,000 or 8,000 acres are planted, the result would be a terrific increase for the potato industry and, especially with the 200 new jobs the plant is expected to offer, for the entire county.

Based in Florenceville, New Brunswick, McCain Foods is a family business that over the last 40 years has expanded prodigiously. Among its prime attractions for farmers are not only the volume needed to meet the public’s demand for potato products, but its contract with farmers, which offers assurance that all the hard work that goes into growing potatoes will be met with a buyer, and a contract requirement that farmers rotate their crop, so that the potato supply will remain healthy for many years to come.

Increased competition from around the country has made potato farming a tough business here, not that it was ever easy. The McCain expansion helps keep Maine in a business the state was known for before lobsters became such a popular meal. A celebratory french fry party might be appropriate.