BANGOR – Potato grower Rocky Beach Farms Inc. of Saint David, near Madawaska in Aroostook County, filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection from creditors last week, citing debts of more than $1 million.

It is the second time in two years that Rocky Beach Farms has filed for bankruptcy. In June 2002, two separate bankruptcy filings were made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor – one for the company and the other for its owners, Gerard and Adrienne Ouellette.

Last June, a federal bankruptcy judge dismissed both bankruptcy cases after attempts by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources to force the business into liquidation were resolved.

The Ouellettes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, according to court documents. In their filing, the couple lists assets of more than $1.7 million, including numerous properties in Madawaska, and liabilities of $1.15 million.

Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection is similar to Chapter 11, which is typically used by businesses and rarely by individuals to temporarily halt demands for payments from creditors while the business reorganizes its finances and operations.

Chapter 12, however, applies to farms and allows farmers to pay debts from the profits generated by future crops. The Ouellettes are sole proprietors of Rocky Beach Farms.

William J. Smith, a Van Buren attorney representing Rocky Beach Farms, did not return a telephone call for comment Tuesday.

According to court documents, Rocky Beach Farms owes more than $1 million in debt to Peoples Heritage Bank, the Maine Potato Growers Inc. of Presque Isle, and more than 40 other creditors. The company’s assets are more than $204,000.

Peoples Heritage was planning a sale of real and personal property on Sept. 16, according to the bankruptcy filing. Rocky Beach Farms has a mortgage of more than $708,000 with Peoples Heritage on property valued at $102,000, according to court documents.

Among the other major creditors are the Maine Potato Growers, which is owed $142,000, and the Finance Authority of Maine, which is owed $99,000.