PORTLAND (AP) – Maine potato farmers have planted about 59,000 acres for the fall harvest, a 3 percent increase over 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Farmers nationwide planted about 990,500 acres of potatoes this year, up 2 percent from the 968,600 acres planted in 2005, the USDA said in its annual summer crop production report.

Maine’s numbers were a surprise to Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board. He expected the planted acreage to be about the same as last year.

If the acreage is up, it is probably a response to contracts for french fries, potato chips and seed potatoes, which represent the biggest markets for Maine spuds.

Regardless, heavy rains this spring and summer have washed away some of the potatoes, so the harvested acreage is likely to come in line with last year, Flannery said.

Maine’s potato acreage peaked in the 1946, at 219,000 acres, Flannery said.

But the acreage has slowly fallen over the years. By 1980, Maine farmers were growing about 108,000 acres; by 1990, the number had fallen to 81,000 acres.