U.S. Border Opens to Alberta Seed

After more than a year of testing and negotiations between USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), seed potatoes from Alberta will be allowed to enter the United States beginning Jan. 26.

Seed from Alberta hasn’t been allowed to cross the border following a 2007 detection of a potato cyst nematode. Subsequent testing hasn’t detected an infestation, and USDA is confident that the Canadian seed is free from the nematode. Under the trade agreement, seed shipped to U.S. growers will be sampled at a rate of 1.1 pounds per acre – a low rate but not unreasonable considering every field already has been tested, said Chris Voigt, executive director for the Washington State Potato Commission. Next year’s seed crop will be tested at 5 pounds per acre.

Although U.S. growers weren’t able to buy seed from Alberta suppliers last season, some have already requested seed for the 2009 growing season, said Edzo Kok, executive director for Potato Growers of Alberta.