PRESQUE ISLE – The Maine Potato Board on Wednesday named the Campbell family of Exeter as the 2004 Farm Family of the Year.

Brian and Sheila Campbell, along with their son Jeff and his wife, Dawn, operate Campbell Farms, a fourth-generation farm that started with Carl R. Smith, Sheila’s paternal grandfather.

Today, the operation farms 260 acres of potatoes. Some are grown on land used by neighboring farm operations to raise cattle, which allows for rotation and soil exchanges to enhance farming practices. The Campbells also grow grain.

All of the farm’s potatoes are sold to Frito-Lay. The family has added a new storage facility in recent years and upgraded a second facility with fans and humidicells to prolong the storage life of the potatoes.

Brian and Jeff Campbell were both working the fields Thursday and could not be reached for comment on the honor.

“It is a nice surprise and a wonderful honor,” Sheila Campbell said Thursday morning. “It’s nice to be recognized by the industry.

“Brian and Jeff have worked hard all these years,” she continued. “They have tried to do a great job and we are honored.”

“I’ve known the Campbells for as long as I can remember, and they run a good operation,” Seth Bradstreet III, president of the Maine Potato Board said Wednesday at the meeting. “There is a lot of heritage there on the farm.

“They have been very successful here in Maine,” he said. “Brian has also been very successful for the Maine industry on the national level.”

Brian and Sheila Campbell purchased the farm, which includes land in Garland and Exeter, in 1984. Jeff joined the operation after receiving a degree in economics from James Madison University in 1987.