In this week’s County Ag Report, NEWSSOURCE 8 visits Pineland Farms Potato Company in Mars Hill to learn how they process County potatoes, and distribute their products across the United States, and beyond.
In part two of our report on the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum, we take a closer look inside the museum, and discover how it has grown over the years with the addition of several buildings displaying equipment and artifacts that help tell the story of life and agriculture in The County.
Potato growers, processors and dealers all play an important role in Maine’s potato industry. In this week’s County Ag Report, we learn why the Maine Potato Board was established, how its mission has evolved over the years, and about the work they do on behalf of the industry.
With the harvesting equipment parked until next fall, and this year’s crop safely stored in potato houses across The County, NEWSSOURCE 8 checks in with the Maine Potato Board for a look at the 2022 season.
In this week’s County Ag Report, we return to our story on how a local beekeeper prepares his beehives for the Winter season. In addition to learning about the work of the beekeeper, we also learned that the bees are at work too, making some winter preparations of their own.
A Caribou farm has been operated by the same family since 1910. In the first of two reports, we learn how the farm has grown over the years adding new crops along the way, including an apple orchard.
Last week the County Ag Report took a look at how technology has changed the way farmer’s plant, grow and harvest their crops. In this week’s report, we look at how the potato harvester has evolved over several decades, becoming more efficient and significantly increasing the amount of potatoes farmers can harvest in a day.
The Maine Potato Blossom Festival kicks off Saturday, marking the 75th anniversary for the event. As the community prepares for the thousands who come to Fort Fairfield for the celebration, Rob Koenig found out what the festival is doing to promote agriculture in this week's County Ag Report.
The COVID-19 pandemic limited many in-person workshops offered by the Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. This year they’ve announced the upcoming field days, in hopes more attendance will return back to pre-pandemic levels. Rob Koenig explains what the conservation district is planning in this week’s County Ag Report.
After the rain last weekend and drought conditions in 2020 and 2021 had an impact on hay crops, grass has been growing and hay production is underway in parts of the county. Rob Koenig has more in this week’s County Ag Report.
The end of the potato planting season is quickly approaching. In this week’s County Ag Report, Rob Koenig found out some of the issues the county has seen with seed decay and rot, and what issues we’re still facing as we head into this season.
Governor Mills last week declared June Maine Dairy Month. In this week’s County Ag Report, Rob Koenig learned more about the local dairy industry here in Aroostook County.
Warmer weather brings more opportunities to get outside and enjoy, but also brings the return to mosquito season. In this week’s County AG Report, Rob Koenig sat down with a couple of experts on how to deal with mosquitoes.
Spring has sprung here in the county, and the planting season is in full force. In this week’s county ag report, Rob Koenig checks in with Taylor Putnam on the progress of his greenhouse, and the harvest from it so far this year.
With the start of the farmers' market season this weekend, several programs will once again be in place to support County residents and visitors to the farmers' market -- as well as local growers, our ag community and beyond.
With the start of the planting and growing season, several resources are available to County farmers to aid and support them throughout the year. In addition, research conducted by the UMaine Cooperative Extension, goes hand-in-hand with tackling the larger hardships often faced by our local Ag community!
In last week's County Ag, we explored the benefits of designing and creating home outdoor spaces and gardens. This week, we dig deeper into the layout and planning process for making your outdoor space unique, and your very own!
As we try to shake off winter and head further into spring -- backyard, outdoor planning, and gardening are on the minds of many County folks. One local landscape designer and author has some tips and advice to make your outdoor space, your own!
As we continue ahead into spring and look forward to the start of the growing season, it's also important to take a look back, at the extensive history of County agriculture. One local farm family did just that, and documented it every step of the way!
Reducing diversity on a farm is one of the many ways large-scale model farmers keep costs down. For smaller scale farmers diversity can be key…not only in crops, but also in livestock. It’s this weeks County Ag Report with Rob Koenig.
Spring is in the air. While snow is still on the ground outside, greenhouses are already warm enough on their own to support cold weather seedlings. When Rob Koenig visited Treystar farms about a month ago, the first seeds were just going into the ground and trays. This week, Rob checked on the progress of the seedlings and has an update in this week’s County Ag Report.
This week is National Ag Week. It coincides with National Ag Day on March 22nd. While it’s supposed to be a time to celebrate the contribution of agriculture to our everyday lives, bigger issues have overshadowed the agriculture industry this year. As Rob Koenig found out in this week’s county ag report, farms across the county are facing an upward battle of challenges.
We recently told you 99 restaurants plan to use Maine potatoes for their more than 100 locations across the northeast. Irving farms in caribou was able to secure the contract with the restaurant chain as businesses continues to bounce back from the pandemic. In this week’s county ag report, Rob Koenig has more about the deal, and what Irving Farms hopes the deal will bring to the county.
PFAS are becoming a bigger issue across the state. After running a story a couple weeks ago on the subject, Rob Koenig looked further into the issue. He came across some of the important work done by a UMaine extension professor and has more details in this week’s County Ag Report.
While most people are still waiting to start seeds until the weather gets a bit warmer, Rob Koenig found out last week how to extend the growing season to earlier in the year with a greenhouse. This week, rob looks at some of the seedlings Treystar farms is starting, both in the ground, and in trays.
Did you know that a simple greenhouse can help to accelerate the start of the growing season? As Rob Koenig found out, a few sheets of plastic goes a long way towards insulating and heating a greenhouse.
Looking for a project to pass the time, or maybe you want some more greens and garnishes for your meals. In the second part of his focus on inside plants for The County Ag Report, Rob Koenig leans about growing microgreens at home.
While it’s not a great time to be tending to the outside garden, houseplants inside our homes still need the TLC we give to their outside counterparts. In a two-part series for the County Ag Report, Rob Koenig has more about the care needed for indoor plants.
Missing the local products you can get from farmers’ markets? Don’t worry, plans are already underway for the 2022 season. In this week’s County Ag Report, Rob Koenig found out what the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets is doing to help local farmers’ markets this season.
While winter is still on many people’s minds, spring will be here before you know it! In this week’s County Ag Report, Rob Koenig looks into making a plan for the growing season ahead.
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