Rain Sends Aroostook County Harvest into “Hammer Down” Mode

We have hit the point in harvest where it is time for the farmers to "hammer down” to get the crops out of the ground. The daylight starts to fade after 6:00 p.m. and the temperatures have been hanging close to the freezing point over night. The farms are digging potatoes out of the ground and cutting broccoli to send out to the rest of the world. Aroostook County and western New Brunswick are producers not just for our area, but other parts of the world.  

At this point most farms are at or past the halfway mark of the potato harvest and the race is on against time as we get deeper into fall. These scenes last night are from a field in the Mapleton and Chapman area. Seeing the lights on as I approached the field brought back a flood of memories recalling the few times I worked in the fields into the dark hours. It didn't happen often so it was fun to recall those moments nearly 20 years ago.

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The harvest will be going strong for about 2 more weeks and I ask you all to exercise patience on the roads as the equipment will be moving from field to field until the final spuds are pulled out of the ground. Be sure to thank anyone who is working in the harvest as this is one of the cash crops our area needs to continue to produce. The potato and broccoli fields are going to be busy before the deep frost of winter settles into the ground.