Hershel Smith

Herschel Smith knew at an early age that he wanted to be a farmer. Mr. Smith started growing his own crop in high school. He started when he was a sophomore and when he was a senior in high school he had 28 acres. His great grandfather and his grandfather were both farmers, along with his father, which would make him a 4th generation farmer. His first house that his grandfather built, burned down. His grandfather built the first frame house in Aroostook County.

He went into the Navy in 1946. Upon his return home, he jumped right back into the farming industry. At the time, his family owned one hundred forty-five acres, but eventually expanded to get nine- thousand acres. His family owned one of the very first trucks in Aroostook County. It could haul 15 barrels, and work got done much quicker. His family stored potatoes on their own farm. They also had many animals. For example, they had 10,000 turkeys at one point in time. He can remember that at one point in time, there were 17 potato farmers on one road, and now, there is only one potato farmer on that one road.

Mr. Smith had the first farm with underground flumes, and to wash the potatoes. H.Smith Packing was established at a state–of-the –art potato packing facility. Mr. Smith’s travels took him all over the United States to expand his knowledge of the potato industry. Currently, his son, Greg, operates the business and has diversified to include the fresh-pack broccoli market.

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