Maine’s 2008 potato harvest will go down in the books as one of the smallest in decades due to reductions in potato acreage and yield.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this year’s potato production is estimated at about 1.44 billion pounds, down 14 percent below the 2007 harvest. Harvest estimates will be updated soon.

Farmers harvested an estimated 54,500 acres of potatoes, the smallest amount in decades. As recently as 25 years ago, Maine farmers were harvesting more than 100,000 acres of potatoes.

USDA estimates the average yield this year at about 26,500 pounds per acre, down from last year’s yield of 29,500 pounds.