PRESQUE ISLE (AP) – The fall potato-harvest recess has begun in schools, trucks are in the fields and pickers are busy as this year’s harvest gets under way. An industry official said early signs point to a good crop.

Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said there was plenty of rain during the growing season and the quality looks good.

“It’s a little early to talk about yields, but we certainly have the potential for good yields,” Flannery said. “The early stuff coming out of the ground shows the chances (of) a good crop.”

Demand also appears to be very good for this time of the year, Flannery said, adding, “In some cases, the prices are even better than last year.”

The market does not seem “overburdened with supply.”

There are few numbers yet available to gauge how much Maine potatoes will fetch on the market, but early indications from other states show slightly higher prices, Flannery said.

Potatoes were planted in 59,000 acres this year, an increase of about 3 percent over last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The North American Potato Market News, an industry publication, estimates higher per-acre yields in Maine than last year.

Last year’s crop in Maine was among the smallest in more than a century, following a cool, wet spring and rainy end to the season. The decline also came amid production cuts across North America.

Maine’s potato acreage peaked in 1946, at 219,000. But the acreage has gradually declined through the decades and by 1980, Maine farmers were growing about 108,000 acres. By 1990, the number had fallen to 81,000 acres.

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On the Net:

Maine Potato Board: http://www.mainepotatoes.com/index.html