Gov. Mills, UMaine President cut ribbon to reopen newly modernized Aroostook Farm, home of world-class potato breeding program

The research farm recently underwent a $3 million renovation funded by the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan so that the land-grant university could accelerate its development of new potato varieties, like the successful Caribou Russet, and the growth of Maine’s agricultural economy and workforce

Gov. Janet Mills and leaders of the University of Maine and Maine Potato Board celebrated the completion of a $3 million renovation of the flagship’s Aroostook Farm with a ceremonial ribbon cutting today in Presque Isle. 

For more than a century, the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station’s (MAFES) 425-acre Aroostook Farm has been the heart of UMaine’s agricultural research to benefit the state’s potato industry, including breeding innovations like the Caribou Russet — now the top seed potato variety planted in Maine.

Thanks to the success of this high-yield spud, which UMaine researchers intentionally bred to be disease-resistant and tolerant of weather-related stress, Maine is one of only three states where potato production expanded between 2000 and 2022. The industry now has a $1.3 billion annual economic impact in the state, supporting more than 6,500 jobs, according to a recent UMaine report. 

Developing a new potato variety like the Caribou Russet typically takes 10-12 years, requiring evaluation of multiple potential varieties in the pipeline at a time.

Changing climate and markets are necessitating speeding up that process, something that can be achieved by measuring and assessing yield and other characteristics of more potential varieties simultaneously. The advanced technology improvements to Aroostook Farm will now make that possible.

In a renovated potato storage building now converted into a lab, new DNA phenotyping and imaging equipment, optical sorters, sensors and even machines that detect sugar levels will give UMaine researchers the ability to breed the most desirable potatoes. In the farm’s fields, new drones will enable them to more efficiently monitor and manage nearly 6,000 test plots, allowing for a better understanding of how changing conditions, including weather and pests, affect each variety under development.

‘A game-changer for the state’s potato industry’The modernization was funded using $3 million of $35 million provided to the University of Maine System (UMS) through the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan (MJRP) — proposed by Gov. Mills and approved by the 130th Maine Legislature to spur the state’s economic recovery and long-term growth by strategically investing federal pandemic relief funds. 

“With tools like drones that will fly over the farm’s nearly 6,000 test plots, the Aroostook Farm will help agriculture students better determine which potato varieties are most resistant to weather, pests and disease, and develop successful new varieties, like the Caribou Russet, to keep Maine-grown potatoes in high demand,” said Gov. Mills. “When we created the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan to build an economy of the future, this is exactly the type of payoff we were envisioning. I congratulate the University of Maine and our entire agriculture community on the transformation of the Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle into an advanced research institution.”

The Maine Potato Board and Farm Credit East, ACA also contributed to the capital project. 

A portion of MJRP funds are supporting paid internships at Aroostook Farm for dozens of students from the land-grant UMaine, the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the University of Maine at Farmington.

“Modern research facilities are necessary to deliver the skilled talent and cutting-edge innovation Maine needs to compete in the 21st-century global economy. This new state-of-the-art breeding facility will accelerate the development of future varieties and a workforce necessary to the resilience of Maine’s top agricultural commodity and dependent rural communities, while providing hands-on research learning experiences for our students that prepare them for rewarding careers,” said UMaine President and UMS Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “We are grateful to Gov. Mills and her Administration, the Legislature and our industry partners for the investments that made possible the modernization of Aroostook Farm and UMaine’s continued contributions to the success and sustainability of Maine’s iconic potato industry.”

“The Maine Potato Board appreciates the University of Maine making this project a priority, and their decades of leadership, research and responsiveness to our growers and producers,” said Maine Potato Board Executive Director Jeannie Tapley. “The investments made here will help develop the next Caribou Russet more quickly and the next generation of researchers necessary for our industry to adapt and continue producing the highest-quality potatoes in the world right here in Maine.” 

“The modernization of Aroostook Farm made possible by the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan will be a game-changer for the state’s potato industry,” said UMaine College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences Dean and MAFES Director Diane Rowland. “These new technologies will deliver new varieties to our farmers quicker and with greater certainty, ensuring processors have the high-quality Maine potatoes they need and consumers enjoy, and our natural resource economy and dependent rural communities can continue to thrive.” 

UMS has invested its share of MJRP funds to enhance world-class research led by the University of Maine, the state’s only institution to have achieved the R1 Carnegie Classification, and expand the Maine workforce in high-demand fields such as engineering and computing, education, entrepreneurship, healthcare, sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, and tourism and hospitality. 

The System’s MJRP-funded initiatives have already provided career development or job training to more than 5,300 Mainers, supported nearly 2,000 student internships and apprenticeships and helped 800 individuals earn a new license or credential.

The modernization of Aroostook Farm was one of four MJRP-funded capital projects undertaken by UMaine to strengthen and grow the state’s natural resource industries and is the first to be completed. Construction on the Orono campus is currently underway for the Sustainable Aquaculture Workforce and Innovation Center, Green Engineering and Materials Factory of the Future and Food Innovation Lab, all of which also benefited from Congressionally Directed Spending secured by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, the current chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Angus King. 

Contact: Samantha Warren, 207.632.0389; samantha.warren@maine.edu

The ribbon cutting was also featured in the Bangor Daily News and News Center Maine.