No matter how you slice them—from French fries to chips and everything in between, the potato has been a staple of the American diet throughout our history. This venerable vegetable is grown in fifteen states, with Idaho leading the way.

Farmer Benny Blick says Idado became the “Potato State” because of its hot days and cool nights during the growing season and its rich volcanic ash soil. That winning combination means Idaho turns out a potato that makes for good baking, mashing, frying or however you want to prepare it.

Blick began farming potatoes with his brother in Twin Falls in 1960. The two started with 80 acres and now have 5000, with two to four hundred planted in potatoes—including a Russet and Norkotah variety for the fresh market. Blick says Idaho’s best-known potato is the Russet Burbank.

There are about 100 different varieties of potatoes. Some are better fresh, while others make good frozen products and still others go to the seed industry.

Across the continent from Idaho, the state of Maine is pretty proud of its potatoes. While behind Idaho in production, it’s still one of the top ten potato producers. In fact, Maine produces nearly two billion pounds of potatoes every year, making the crop and the farmers that grow it the cornerstone of agriculture in this state.

Ninety percent of the potato acreage is in Aroostook County, the state’s largest and most remote. So remote, in fact, the easiest way to get there is by light plane from the south-central city of Bangor. After a short trip north to the towns of Presque Isle and Caribou near the Canadian border, the “America’s Heartland” crew visited two family farms.

The Irving family has been raising potatoes for about one hundred years. That century old family legacy means farming skills are passed down through the generations and that’s one reason Irving Farms is still thriving. Another reason, says Bob Irving’s son Jeff: they’ve learned how to keep their customers happy, providing them with different varieties and different sizes of potatoes.

Innovation is something else that helps not only the Irving family, but another family farm flourish in the Maine potato business. At the Irving and Marr Farms (no relation to Bob Irving), a state-of-the-art refrigerated building built in 2002 keeps potatoes from sprouting and or getting spongy before being shipped. That means potatoes can stay fresh in storage for a longer period of time. The potatoes our crew saw had been stored for close to a year and appeared as fresh as the day they were harvested.

That’s important to McCain Foods of Easton, Maine, one of Irving and Marr’s major customers. As the largest frozen potato producer in the country, the company depends on a top quality crop to give the consumer the freshest fry.

But which state, Idaho or Maine, produces the best potato? Naturally, it depends on who you ask. Tim Hobbs, a potato farmer in Presque, Maine, insists that his state’s are better. While Benny Blick says Idaho produces the highest quality French fry or baking potato.

A little friendly competition never hurts, and with the country’s continued appetite for potatoes both states have enough demand to keep them busy.

Additional information:

Fast Facts:
The first Russett Burbank potato, that great mainstay of the American diet, was created by botanist Luther Burbank in Massachusetts in 1871.

It came along just in time to help end the long Irish potato famine. In the 1840s, a blight (plant disease) nearly wiped out all of Ireland’s potato crop, the mainstay of the Irish diet. Many poor people starved to death and many of those who didn’t ended up moving to the European continent, Canada, and the United States. The Russet Burbank potato proved to be relatively blight-resistant and helped to revive Ireland’s potato farms.

Burbank sold the rights to his famous potato for $150 – just enough to pick up, move west and continue his work in California.

For more information:
Maine is so much more than potatoes. History, Acadia National Park, seafaring villages: all await in Maine. Find out more by going to www.visitmaine.com or www.mainetourism.com

Idaho offers a wealth of attractions from high alpine lakes, to sophisticated resort towns, world-class skiing and a rich frontier history. There’s plenty of trip-planning information at www.visitid.org