A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is expressing concern about the potential for potato wart to spread from potato imports originating on Canada’s Prince Edward Island to U.S. farms.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, led Senate colleagues in expressing concern about Prince Edward Island’s potato wart disease and urging the implementation of additional mitigation measures to prevent introduction into the U.S., according to a news release.
Potato wart is a highly destructive disease that can spread via infected potatoes and soil, reduce crop yields and make potatoes unmarketable domestically or internationally. There is currently no treatment available to eliminate it from contaminated farmland where it can persist in the soil for decades, according to the release.
“If potato wart should enter the United States, our farmers and the communities they support will be economically devastated,” the letter said. “Given that 20% of our potato crop — valued at over $2 billion — is exported, we cannot allow introduction of a disease that would shut off access to international markets, and also curtail domestic production and sales.”
The lawmakers expressed concern that, despite current USDA regulations identifying soil testing as the most effective tool to detect potato wart, the USDA does not require testing of Prince Edward Island fields prior to potatoes being cleared for export to the U.S.
The letter urged the USDA to take swift action to mitigate the potato wart risk associated with imports from Prince Edward Island by taking three actions:
• Restrict bulk shipments into the U.S. to smaller-size packages — Bulk shipments of potatoes into the U.S. are often broken down into smaller sizes at intermediate facilities within the U.S. prior to being shipped across the country. During this repacking process, a substantial amount of waste is generated, which can then transmit the potato wart disease. USDA should limit these large bulk shipments to smaller sizes (20 pounds or less), so that any waste that occurs during the repacking process is significantly retained in Canada.
• Limit large retail shipments and ensure consumers know they are for consumption rather than cultivation — The U.S. potato industry is concerned that sales of retail (table stock) potatoes may result in consumers unknowingly planting infected potatoes in home gardens, without proper mitigation strategies, and unintentionally spreading potato wart. USDA should limit retail shipments to consumer pack sizes and take steps to ensure the public is fully informed of the risks associated with cultivation.
• Control the waste generated by processing facilities — Potato processing generates a significant amount of waste product, which, again, can transmit the potato wart disease. Any processing facilities using Prince Edward Island potatoes should operate under the supervision of USDA and include the treatment of biohazard waste. Such compliance agreements should prohibit the conversion of waste potatoes into livestock feed, because the process could embed potato wart into agricultural land.
“Potato wart entering the United States from Prince Edward Island in Canada has been and continues to be a significant threat to U.S. potato farmers,” Gary Roth, executive director of the Oregon Potato Commission, said in the release. “If the disease enters the United States, the impact would be devastating not just to U.S. potato farmers, but also to the domestic and international supply chain. Oregon growers and those across the United States greatly appreciate the inclusive and bipartisan support of the U.S. Senate to further bring this to the attention of the USDA.”
In addition to Wyden and Crapo, the letter was signed by Sens. Angus King, I-Maine; Susan Collins, R-Maine; John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; James Risch, R-Idaho; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Pete Rickettsm R-Neb.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; John Hoeven, R-N.D.; Jon Tester, D-Mont.; Steve Daines, R, Mont.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; John Boozman, R-Ark.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; and Patty Murray, D-Wash.
