Aroostook Business

NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural Resource-Based Industries¹

Forestry

Maine Woods Co. About 88% of Aroostook County is covered by forests, representing about one-quarter of the forestland in Maine, the most heavily forested state in the country. Most of the region's forests are located in the vast unorganized territory of Northwest Aroostook, falling within the boreal forest region, with mixes of spruce-balsam-fir, beech-birch-maple, and aspen-birch. Softwood species predominate. The forests are a vast resource that provides landowners with income from the sale of forest products, and supplies raw materials to lumber mills throughout the state and region. In the 1970s and early 1980s, spruce budworm outbreaks caused owners of forest acreage to expand operations to salvage affected trees, but millions of trees were still lost due to the damage caused by the insect. Most of the remaining spruce-fir is immature, and will be for another ten years before a valuable volume reaches pulpwood size. Some of the negative impact on forestry employment has been eased with the advent of new forest products and industries. For example, wafer board is now manufactured from aspen chips at J.M. Huber in Easton, and at Louisiana-Pacific in New Limerick. Maine Woods Company has also recently opened a hardwood flooring plant in Portage, representing a very positive step in the region's forestry industry.

Agriculture

Aroostook County produces over 90% of Maine's potato crop, and Maine is the fifth largest potato producer in the nation. Since 1954, the number of farms specializing in potato growing in Maine has decreased by 67%, but the acreage harvested has dropped 45%, and total production has decreased by 41%. Farm operations are fewer, but are increasing in size. Aroostook County growers are working towards crop diversification. The County occupies an important niche in the fresh broccoli and pea markets nationally, as one of only a few places in the nation with a late summer climate mild enough to produce these crops. Broccoli production has been a success in the last decade, with the acreage increasing from 284 acres in 1982 to 3,182 acres in 1992. Maine currently ranks as the third largest broccoli producer in the United States. In addition, 1998 saw the introduction of soybeans and canola into the region, with plansfor increased acreage in 1999.

1998 Crop Estimates
Utilization	CWT Shipped (000)	Recovery Rate	Lbs. Fin. Product (000)	Retail Price $/Lb.	Retail Value ($000)
Tablestock	4,700	100%	470,000	0.16	75,200
Seed	1,600	100%	160,000	0.12	19,200
French Fries	6,500	50%	325,000	0.86	279,500
Chipping	1,950	25%	48,750	2.88	140,400
Totals	14,750	_	1,003,750	_	514,300

Sources: Agricultural Statistics Board, NASS/USDA, National Potato Council, and Maine Potato Board

Maine Potato Farm Trends

.	No. Farms	AcreageHarvested (000)	Yield (cwt./a) (000 cwt.)	Shrink & Loss	Total Production	AveragePrice/cwt.	Value of Production ($000)	Sales
1954	xx	141	237	.	29,046	$2.15	62,449	53,021
1959	2,354	141	249	.	34,263	$2.32	79,490	70,718
1964	1,908	140	274	.	38,360	$3.83	146,919	132,514
1969	1,683	156	225	.	35,100	$2.20	77,220	66,194
1974	1,283	140	260	.	36,400	$2.90	105,560	85,788
1982	920	106	255	.	27,030	$3.35	90,551	75,476
1987	715	83	280	2,250	23,240	$4.25	98,770	86,233
1992	xx	81	300	5,940	24,300	$5.10	123,930	90,015
1993	xx	78	255	3,370	19,890	$6.95	138,236	110,783
1994 1995	xx xx	75 78	245 220	2,850 1,025	18,375 17,160	$6.10 $6.40	112,088 109,824	91,500 100,576
%Change '54 to '94	N/A	-45%	-7%	N/A	-41%	198%	76%	90%

Source: Maine Dept. of Agriculture Reporting Service

Aroostook County Crop Production

.	Broccoli	.	Peas	.	Potatoes	.	Harvested Cropland	.
.	Farms	Acres	Farms	Acres	Farms	Acres	Farms	Acres
1982	12	284	78	7,640	886	91,123	1,181	159,434
1987	12	2,339	40	3,456	676	75,473	956	135,067
1992	11	3,182	39	2,588	591	79,938	833	135,856
1997					416	65,454	735	143,507

Source: Census of Maine Agriculture, US Bureau of the Census

1. Aroostook County Economic Profile, Nothern Maine Development Commission, 1997.