Sugar beet processing plants closed in Aroostook County when the effort to diversify the crop failed.
But the 1970s were not the first time farmers in the County tried sugar beets.
In the late 1880s, some farmers grew sugar beets and some tried growing hops.
Sugar processing plants were in Portland and not convenient to Aroostook farmers. The market for hops was uncertain and that crop, too, was put aside.
Potatoes continued to dominate Aroostook County farms.
