Two surveys, each including over 90 percent of Maine potato farm units, agree with the general trend in the United States of “fewer but larger farms”. The number of farm units in Maine reporting potatoes grown decreased from 1,479 in 1969 to 1,058 in 1976, or 28.5 percent. Average size of potato enterprise increased from 92 acres (37.1 hectares) to 104 acres (42.1 hectares). While a predominance of units were in the 50-to 79-acre (20.2-to 32.0-hectare) range in both survey years, the number of units reporting less than 100 acres (40.5 hectares) decreased by about one-third, and represented 64 percent of the total number of units in 1976. Sixty-two of the largest reporting potato farm units produced one-quarter of the State’s potato acreage of 1976 (27,500 acres or 11,130 hectares), whereas it required 84 to produce one-quarter of the total acreage (33,890 acres or 13,715 hectares) in 1969. There were about 1,450 farmers in Maine involved in growing one acre (4 hectare) or more of potatoes in 1976 as compared to an estimated 1,950 in
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