ProduceWire ProduceWire

Maine · crop watch

Maine potato crop

USDA last rated the 2020 Maine potato crop for the week ending Oct 18, when 51% was good or excellent, versus 92% at this point last year. Harvest stood at 99% complete. USDA's November forecast puts the 2020 crop at 13.4 million cwt, down 20.0% from last year's final of 16.7.

Last rated week ending Oct 18, 2020

Good to excellent · last reading

51%of the crop

Share of the 2020 crop rated good or excellent for the week ending Oct 18.

–

99%

Harvested

As of Oct 25.

▼

17.3

million cwt, 2025 forecast

−5.9% against last year's final crop.

Analysis

Week ending Sep 27

Maine potatoes rated far ahead of last year

Maine's potato crop was rated 79% good to excellent for the week ending September 27, 2026, unchanged from the prior week but up sharply from 56% at this point last year. Harvest reached 59% complete, ahead of both the five-year average of 51% and last year's 49%. USDA's November 2025 forecast put the 2025 crop at 17.3 million cwt, down 5.9% from last year's final 18.3 million cwt. Past forecasts for Maine have typically finished slightly smaller than the first estimate, by 0.4% on average. Watch the next USDA report for how the final number compares.

Written from USDA data and source reports

Forecast reliability

±1.2%

Average gap between the season's first USDA forecast and the final crop across the last 5 completed seasons.

Weekly ratings

Crop condition, 2020

Bars are the full USDA rating split each week. The dashed line is the five-year average for good plus excellent; the dotted line is last year.

2026202520242023202220212020
Maine potato crop condition, 20200%25%50%75%100%Week ending Jul 5: Very poor 0%, Poor 10%, Fair 40%, Good 50%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 50% (5-yr avg 89%, last year 100%)Week ending Jul 12: Very poor 0%, Poor 3%, Fair 14%, Good 50%, Excellent 33% — good+excellent 83% (5-yr avg 86%, last year 100%)Week ending Jul 19: Very poor 0%, Poor 3%, Fair 21%, Good 48%, Excellent 28% — good+excellent 76% (5-yr avg 85%, last year 100%)Week ending Jul 26: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 30%, Good 51%, Excellent 19% — good+excellent 70% (5-yr avg 97%, last year 100%)Week ending Aug 2: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 36%, Good 54%, Excellent 10% — good+excellent 64% (5-yr avg 91%, last year 90%)Week ending Aug 9: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 45%, Good 54%, Excellent 1% — good+excellent 55% (5-yr avg 88%, last year 90%)Week ending Aug 16: Very poor 0%, Poor 14%, Fair 36%, Good 50%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 50% (5-yr avg 86%, last year 80%)Week ending Aug 23: Very poor 0%, Poor 2%, Fair 13%, Good 68%, Excellent 17% — good+excellent 85% (5-yr avg 78%, last year 80%)Week ending Aug 30: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 22%, Good 70%, Excellent 8% — good+excellent 78% (5-yr avg 77%, last year 80%)Week ending Sep 6: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 10%, Good 80%, Excellent 10% — good+excellent 90% (5-yr avg 69%, last year 80%)Week ending Sep 13: Very poor 0%, Poor 0%, Fair 5%, Good 85%, Excellent 10% — good+excellent 95% (5-yr avg 79%, last year 80%)Week ending Sep 20: Very poor 0%, Poor 27%, Fair 33%, Good 40%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 40% (5-yr avg 82%, last year 90%)Week ending Sep 27: Very poor 0%, Poor 20%, Fair 29%, Good 51%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 51% (5-yr avg 88%, last year 80%)Week ending Oct 4: Very poor 0%, Poor 28%, Fair 31%, Good 41%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 41% (5-yr avg —, last year 90%)Week ending Oct 11: Very poor 0%, Poor 30%, Fair 53%, Good 17%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 17% (5-yr avg —, last year 90%)Week ending Oct 18: Very poor 0%, Poor 13%, Fair 36%, Good 51%, Excellent 0% — good+excellent 51% (5-yr avg —, last year 92%)Harvest begins — week ending Aug 9Harvest begins−55 pts — week ending Sep 20−55 ptsUSDA forecast — week ending Oct 18USDA forecastJul 5Jul 19Aug 2Aug 16Aug 30Sep 13Sep 27Oct 11
Very poorPoorFairGoodExcellent5-yr avg good+excellentLast year

Latest: 51% good or excellent, week ending Oct 18. Hover a bar for the full breakdown.

Field progress

Planted, 2020

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine potato planted, 20200%50%100%Planted, week ending May 3: 0% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Planted, week ending May 10: 1% (5-yr avg —, last year 3%)Planted, week ending May 17: 20% (5-yr avg 15%, last year 15%)Planted, week ending May 24: 70% (5-yr avg 44%, last year 24%)Planted, week ending May 31: 74% (5-yr avg 68%, last year 36%)Planted, week ending Jun 7: 82% (5-yr avg —, last year 69%)Planted, week ending Jun 14: 95% (5-yr avg —, last year 87%)Planted, week ending Jun 21: 100% (5-yr avg —, last year 94%)May 3May 10May 17May 24May 31Jun 7Jun 14Jun 21
This year5-yr avgLast year

Planted: 100% as of Jun 21.

Field progress

Emerged, 2020

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine potato emerged, 20200%50%100%Emerged, week ending May 31: 9% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Emerged, week ending Jun 7: 18% (5-yr avg 19%, last year 4%)Emerged, week ending Jun 14: 36% (5-yr avg 43%, last year 25%)Emerged, week ending Jun 21: 68% (5-yr avg 67%, last year 58%)Emerged, week ending Jun 28: 97% (5-yr avg —, last year 85%)May 31Jun 7Jun 14Jun 21Jun 28
This year5-yr avgLast year

Emerged: 97% as of Jun 28.

Field progress

Blooming, 2020

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine potato blooming, 20200%50%100%Blooming, week ending Jun 28: 2% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Jul 5: 8% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Jul 12: 55% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Jul 19: 59% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Jul 26: 75% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Aug 2: 75% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Aug 9: 76% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Blooming, week ending Aug 16: 94% (5-yr avg —, last year —)Jun 28Jul 5Jul 12Jul 19Jul 26Aug 2Aug 9Aug 16
This year5-yr avgLast year

Blooming: 94% as of Aug 16.

Field progress

Harvested, 2020

This season against the five-year average pace and last year.

Maine potato harvested, 20200%50%100%Harvested, week ending Aug 9: 1% (5-yr avg —, last year 0%)Harvested, week ending Aug 16: 2% (5-yr avg 2%, last year 1%)Harvested, week ending Aug 23: 20% (5-yr avg 7%, last year 4%)Harvested, week ending Aug 30: 24% (5-yr avg 10%, last year 6%)Harvested, week ending Sep 6: 53% (5-yr avg 16%, last year 10%)Harvested, week ending Sep 13: 62% (5-yr avg 24%, last year 13%)Harvested, week ending Sep 20: 63% (5-yr avg 30%, last year 14%)Harvested, week ending Sep 27: 83% (5-yr avg 38%, last year 44%)Harvested, week ending Oct 4: 84% (5-yr avg 52%, last year 65%)Harvested, week ending Oct 11: 88% (5-yr avg 70%, last year 75%)Harvested, week ending Oct 18: 96% (5-yr avg —, last year 84%)Harvested, week ending Oct 25: 99% (5-yr avg —, last year 93%)Aug 9Aug 23Sep 6Sep 20Oct 4Oct 18
This year5-yr avgLast year

Harvested: 99% as of Oct 25.

Forecast record

How the forecast moved to final

Each season's first USDA forecast against the final estimate, with the revision between them.

Maine potato crop: USDA first forecast vs final05101520million cwt2014: no forecast · final 14.6 million cwt20142015: no forecast · final 16.2 million cwt20152016: no forecast · final 15.1 million cwt20162017: no forecast · final 15.2 million cwt20172018: no forecast · final 15.0 million cwt20182019: Nov forecast 16.5 million cwt · final 16.7 million cwt (+1.6%)+1.6%20192020: Nov forecast 13.4 million cwt · final 13.5 million cwt (+0.6%)+0.6%20202021: Nov forecast 18.4 million cwt · final 18.4 million cwt (-0.2%)−0.2%20212022: Nov forecast 18.1 million cwt · final 18.4 million cwt (+1.7%)+1.7%20222023: Nov forecast 17.4 million cwt · final 16.8 million cwt (-3.2%)−3.2%20232024: Nov forecast 18.3 million cwt · final 18.3 million cwt (+0.4%)+0.4%20242025: Nov forecast 17.3 million cwt · final 17.1 million cwt (-0.7%)−0.7%2025
First forecastFinalFinal pending
Crop yearFirst forecast (million cwt)FinalRevisionCrop valueShare of US
202517.3 November17.1−0.7%$253M4.1%
202418.3 November18.3+0.4%$271M4.4%
202317.4 November16.8−3.2%$239M3.8%
202218.1 November18.4+1.7%$247M4.6%
202118.4 November18.4−0.2%$215M4.5%
202013.4 November13.5+0.6%$152M3.2%
201916.5 November16.7+1.6%$184M4.0%
2018—15.0—$167M3.3%
2017—15.2—$155M3.4%
2016—15.1—$174M3.4%
2015—16.2—$163M3.6%
2014—14.6—$154M3.3%

Revision is how far the final estimate moved from the season's first forecast — the practical measure of how much weight to give an early number.

Source: USDA NASS Crop Progress (weekly, April–November) and Crop Production reports. This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS.

Updated September 29, 2026

Get the Weekly Market Brief

Price moves, freight signals, and the produce stories that matter — one email, every week. Built for buyers, category managers, and brokers.

Subscribe free →