The Maine Potato Board announced this month the completion of its new $890,000 storage research facility located in Presque Isle, ME.
Located on the Aroostook Farm, the facility was a joint effort of the Maine Potato Board and the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station at the University of Maine.
The Board received a federal Economic Development Administration grant for the construction of the facility in 2001. EDA funding was used for design, site development, and construction.
The Department of Agriculture and Maine Technology Institute each provided additional funding for the project.
The facility will allow for more storage research, an area vital to improving product quality and production efficiency as Maine potatoes reach competitive markets, The Maine Potato News stated.
New and existing varieties of Maine potatoes will be studied. Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said storage impacts processing potato quality and is especially important, as processed potatoes become a major segment of the Maine potato industry.