Northern Maine is potato country. During the three decades ending in 1958, Aroostook County produced more potatoes than any other state. Generation after generation of County residents remember falls spent in the fields, working the harvest. Potatoes are as Maine as lobsters and lighthouses.

Maine remains one of the nation’s top spud growers. But when people think of our state, they link the iconic coastal images. When they think of potatoes, they think Idaho.

That’s thanks in large part to the Idaho Potato Commission, which has preached the gospel of the potato since the late 1950s. The commission’s use of advertising has inexorably linked Idaho with the production of quality potatoes, though most people couldn’t tell the difference. For better or for worse, putting “Idaho” on a bag of potatoes makes that bag more valuable.

Which brings us to another Maine product that is sold short: maple syrup, which is celebrated every year on Maine Maple Sunday, set for March 25. Like potatoes, syrup is big business in this state. Last year, Maine’s 1.47 million taps produced 360,000 gallons of maple syrup, a 14 percent increase from 2010 and good for third in the nation. And as with potatoes, Maine syrup, though as good as any other, lags behind another state in terms of recognition. When people think maple syrup, they think Vermont.

But there are efforts under way to change that. A task force convened by the Legislature last year reported that Maine’s maple sugar industry is poised for expansion, and that the state should use the branding power that makes Maine lobster so sought after to do the same with maple syrup.

The Legislature has now formed another task force to implement the ideas included in the report, and Gov. LePage has made maple syrup promotion a significant part of his natural resources platform.

“This industry is a great example of Maine’s multiple uses of its natural resources and how a wood lot has an array of benefits – maple syrup, wood production, recreation and open space,” Agriculture Commissioner Walt Whitcomb said earlier this month.

Applying the “Maine Brand” to maple syrup is a no-brainer. Maple products are already popular with tourists and residents alike – maple-leaf shaped containers can be found at almost every little shop, and Maine Maple Sunday draws thousands of people to sugarhouses every year. As recommended in the task force’s report, a Maine Maple Commission should be established to further associate Maine and maple syrup.

As the report also points out, Maine needs to expand its production of maple syrup. But at the same time, the state needs to be careful to protect the dozens of small producers that make up the industry. The real earning power in maple syrup comes from value-added processing, not in bulk wholesale to processors. What makes Maine maple syrup special are the hundreds of farmers who use a small sugarbrush operation as added income. When combined with other agricultural pursuits – dairy, meat, eggs, agritourism, etc. – it can help creative farmers make a living. The economic benefits of that expansion should be available to those farmers, so as not to lead to the domination of the market by large-scale producers.

In the meantime, Maine can take the lessons learned from lobsters and lighthouses – and Idaho potatoes – and put them to work.

Ben Bragdon is the managing editor at Current Publishing. He can be reached at bbragdon@keepmecurrent.com or followed on Twitter.

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