How scientists are using drones to help Aroostook potatoes

A 110-year-old Aroostook County facility is upping its technology to keep Maine’s potato industry thriving into the future.
The Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle is using $3 million from the University of Maine System to transform a former storage building into an advanced research lab.
From farms to stores and restaurants, the potato industry contributes $1.3 billion to the state’s economy, according to a 2024 UMaine study. Work in Presque Isle was key to one of the biggest sellers in decades: the Caribou Russet. With better research tools, the farm aims to develop new climate- and disease-resistant varieties faster and give growers seed for the next potato success story.
“What I’m selecting now will benefit the industry 10 to 12 years from now. We see the trend that our winters are getting mild and our summers are getting hotter,” said Mario Andrade, an assistant professor at UMaine and potato breeding program director. “If I can collect better data, the chance to find a better potato is higher.”
The University of Maine System secured $30 million in funds from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Program and allocated the money to several programs, including the farm. Work will accelerate variety development that is critical for strengthening Maine’s potato industry, UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said Oct. 9.
Some of the new lab equipment has already arrived.
At the Aroostook Farm on Wednesday, Andrade was photographing freshly harvested potatoes using a specialized lightbox and cataloging software. It’s vital to keep track of what each test variety looks like from growth to harvest, he said. 
Another machine detects sugar in potatoes. That’s more important than people realize, Andrade said. Too much sugar makes potatoes turn brown, which is taboo, especially for potatoes that will become french fries.
The farm used some of the funding to buy drones that will fly over and snap photos of the farm’s nearly 6,000 test plots, which will help staff monitor growth and see how weather, pests and disease affect different varieties.  
The biggest addition will be an optical sorter that will photograph each potato and classify it by size, he said. Now, staff sort and weigh each potato by hand — a painstakingly slow process. 
The new lab will also enlarge the farm’s capabilities for DNA science, which is the future of variety development, Andrade said. By analyzing DNA, researchers can precisely mix parent plants to result in a potato with desirable traits.
Faster data collection and genetic work could shave off about a third of the time it takes to develop a new potato, he said. It takes more than a decade: after years of scientific tests, growers try a variety, then the Maine Potato Board and Cooperative Extension work to introduce it to more farmers as it is officially released.
Founded in 1914, the Aroostook Farm is one of several farms and labs that form the university’s Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. It’s the largest of the research farms at 425 acres. Other sites study blueberries, vegetables, livestock and other Maine agriculture.
Developing a potato variety typically takes 10 to 12 years, said Diane Rowland, UMaine’s dean of the College of Earth, Life and Health Sciences and experiment station director.
“As we have seen environmental changes increase, the need to develop new varieties quickly is very important,” Rowland said. “Mario is studying all kinds of characteristics and can pick and choose traits of potatoes for regions. This kind of data will allow him to do that.”
There are more than 200 potato varieties currently grown in the U.S., according to the National Potato Council. 
The farm employs superintendent Randy Smith and a team of scientists and research technicians. But it does more than potato breeding. 
The local UMaine Cooperative Extension office is on-site. Extension specialists including Andrei Alyokhin, entomologist, and I. Kutay Ozturk and Jay Hao, plant pathologists, study potato pests and diseases. Bee Khim Chim focuses on soil health and nutrients. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has a testing facility on the farm.
The Aroostook Farm is really a hub for UMaine’s potato science, Rowland said. Different science disciplines work together to develop a sustainable crop, from seed generation to weather and disease resistance.
It’s critical that the research is taking place in the heart of where most of Maine’s potato production happens, she said. A potato that grows well in Florida, for instance, may not do well in The County’s soil.
That local connection is crucial for the industry, Maine Potato Board Executive Director Jeannie Tapley said. Based in Presque Isle, the board works with the farm and Extension staff on potato research and trials, and is a liaison between growers and marketers.  
Growers and board members can actually walk into the farm’s test plots to observe growth and see how new disease strains, like potato virus Y, affect the plants, she said. 
The board and former breeding program director Greg Porter developed the Caribou Russet and a new Hamlin russet that’s gaining national ground. It’s key to have board members, growers and researchers collaborate locally, Tapley said. 
“We work together on all aspects of development,” she said. “You’ve got to have open communication with what growers are seeing and the different research.”
Demolition has begun inside the coming research facility, according to Lee Hecker, assistant director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Old storage lockers are out and a new floor is underway. The site could be operational in the spring, he said.
Andrade looks forward to having the new lab to help him and his small staff, which often includes graduate students, create potatoes to meet nature’s constant challenges.  
His predecessor, Porter, was able to release nearly a dozen varieties in his 17 years heading the breeding program, Andrade said. That’s phenomenal in the slow work of breeding science.
“If I can see just two new varieties, I’ll be very happy,” he said.
Correction: This report was amended to clarify the funding source for the improvements at Aroostook Farm.