Delegation seeks help for County farmers

LITTLETON – Excessive rainfall was detrimental to Aroostook County’s potato crop this past season, and U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Rep. Michael Michaud have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help.

The delegation sent a letter earlier this month to USDA Secretary Ann Veneman asking that she approve a request to declare Aroostook County an agricultural disaster area, Elissa Canlas, Collins’ spokeswoman, said Thursday. Excessive rainfall during the growing season has hindered a market already weakened by foreign competition and fluctuating crop prices.

During June, July and August 2003, an additional 4 inches of rain fell as compared to the same period in 2002, according to Larry Gabric, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Caribou.

The delegates are hoping that their request will expedite efforts to bring financial aid to Maine farmers.

“Excessive rainfall is just as devastating to potato farms, as would be an excessive drought,” the delegation said in a joint statement released earlier this week.

If the measure were approved, farmers would be eligible for disaster aid for crop losses from June 1, 2003, to the present.

“This has been in the works for a few months now,” said Tim Hobbs, director of development and grower relations at the Maine Potato Board. “At the end of the summer and the beginning of the harvest, we got a great deal of rainfall. Certain parts of Aroostook County were severely hit.”

Potato farmers in Aroostook County are feeling the strain of both the rain and the falling prices. Barry Campbell, a Littleton farmer, estimated that it costs him $5 to $6 per 100 pounds of potatoes to get from field to market. He sold much of last year’s crop for half the price that it cost him to produce.

Farmers also are dealing with a decline in demand for their crop.

“Demand is certainly down this year,” Hobbs said. “Along with imports from Canada, the new trend of eating low-carbohydrate diets has been a factor. People following those types of diet plans are avoiding potatoes.”

Buzz Jewell, a Monticello farmer who has been in the business for more than two decades, has seen the effect of excess rain on his crops. Yields are down 10 percent from 2002, Jewell said, along with the quality of potatoes.

“The potatoes have shrunk a lot due to the rain,” Jewell said. “When your crop is underwater, it suffocates and gets soft. You don’t get as many perfect bags, and that makes a huge difference. Of course, this adds to the labor costs. It takes a lot more time for the pickers to sort through the potatoes and find the good ones.”

Jewell, who normally suffers a 10 percent loss of potatoes each season, endured a 20 percent loss last year. He planted 215 acres in 2003, relying solely on harvesters to retrieve his crop.

“I was one of the last farmers in the area to employ pickers, but I just couldn’t do it anymore,” he said. “The cost is just too great.”