Farm Family
of the Year 

Maine Potato Board Announces Farm Family and Farmer of the Year

For release: June 3, 2002

(Presque Isle) ­ The Maine Potato Board has announced that Ned and Carol Berce, and Berce Potato Company Inc. has been named the 2002 Farm Family and Farmer of the Year.

This year, the Maine Potato Board has combined the two awards, traditionally given to two separate families. As the Maine Potato Board manages more events celebrating the Maine potato industry, it concluded that most previous winners of both awards had been family farm operations. Therefore, the annual Farm Family of the Year award will be the only annual award presented in the future.

Woodbury Berce, the grandfather of Ned Berce, started the farm operation in the 1930's. He purchased several area farms and combined them into one operation with the belief that the area offered the seclusion necessary for growing seed potatoes. Ned's father, Woody, continued the operation from the 1950's until his death in 1974. Woodbury and Woody came to St. Agatha from Washburn.

Ned Berce's mother, Mary Ann Reed Berce, was from Ft. Fairfield. As a young child, Ned and his family shared time between Fort Fairfield and St. Agatha, living in Fort during the winter and moving up to the St. John Valley during the summer through harvest season. The family moved to St. Agatha permanently in 1972.

Ned began farming with his mother in 1974, following the untimely death of his father. In the late 1970's the family formed Berce Potato Company, Inc. Today, Berce Potato Company farms 350 acres of cropland, including 170 acres of seed potatoes rotated with oats and canola. The heart of the operation is early generation seed grown for other farmers.

Berce Potato Company is a limited generation seed farm, which provides base seed for other growers. Generally, product from Berce Potato Company is propagated for one or two years, then sold to a chip stock producer. They grow early generation seed for Frito Lay (Frito Lay's only mini-tuber contractor in the northeastern United States), as well as other growers in Maine and Canada. This specialized production of some 25 acres of mini tubers is extremely technical. It requires specialized equipment and tends to be labor intensive.

Ned Berce attributes his operation's success to extremely good employees. He credits his foreman especially, who was also the foreman for Ned's father and was instrumental in getting Ned started. Ned also credits and thanks many area growers who have been supportive, along with his family.

Ned has remained active in the potato industry and the community. He was named National Seed Potato Grower of the Year in 1995 and Outstanding Conservation Farm of the St. John Valley Soil and Water conservation District in 2000. In 2001, Ned was appointed to the Maine Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Committee, where he was responsible for representing agricultural producers and borrowers in FSA's many commodity and loan programs in Maine. This is a federal appointment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bush Administration.

Donald Flannery, Executive Director of the Maine Potato Board, expressed the Board's congratulations to the Farm Family of the Year. "The Berce family has been a credit to the potato industry for years," Flannery said. "They have remained active in many facets of the industry, constantly working to ensure the future success of the Maine potato industry." The Berce family will be honored at the Industry Dinner during the annual Potato Blossom Festival.

If you would like more information on Maine's Farm Family of the Year, please contact Don Flannery at (207) 769-5061 or visit the Maine Potato Board's web site at www.mainepotatoes.com.