Canadian farmers win 20-year settlement fight over virus decision

Almost 200 potato farmers in the New Brunswick province of Canada will receive a multimillion-dollar settlement from their Federal government after a court ruling ended a 20-year legal battle over a virus outbreak. The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to hear an appeal from the federal government in a lawsuit over a virus that devastated the province’s [...]

Canadian seed potato fields declared clean of PCN

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has completed the testing of Canada’s seed potato fields for the 2008 crop and potato cyst nematode (PCN) was not detected. Soil samples were collected and tested for PCN as part of Canada’s national PCN detection survey and to meet various countries’ import requirements. The CFIA collected and tested [...]

US border to open for Canadian seed potatoes

Potato growers from the Canadian province Alberta who want to sell seed potatoes into the U.S. can resume exports Wednesday (Jan. 28). Ottawa announced Friday that it has “taken all actions necessary to comply fully with U.S. import requirements for Alberta seed potatoes.” In a public press release issued by the Canadian Food and Inspection [...]

Indonesia looks to Western Australian potato seed

Western Australia’s world class seed potato industry was in the spotlight during a visit by Indonesian Government officials and industry specialists to that region end of last year. The Indonesian visit was organised by the Department of Agriculture and Food. The department is working to optimise the productivity of potato and associated vegetable cropping systems in [...]

North Dakota officials actively pursuing seed potato deal with Cuba

A deal brokered last summer to ship North Dakota seed potatoes to Cuba has languished in the government bureaucracy, the state’s agricultural commissioner says, according to a report by the Grand Forks Herald earlier this month. North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson reportedly said he’s still hopeful some of the state’s potato seed stocks can [...]