Central ND News

In a bipartisan letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas Vilsack, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in expressing concern about the potential for potato wart to spread from potato imports originating in Canada’s Province, Prince Edward Island (PEI), to U.S. farms and production facilities. The Senators urged the USDA to implement additional mitigation measures to prevent introduction into the United States.

Potato wart is a highly destructive disease capable of spreading via infected potatoes and soil. Its spread would reduce crop yields and make potatoes unmarketable domestically and internationally. There is no treatment available to eliminate the disease from contaminated farmland where it can persist in the soil for decades.

“If potato wart should enter the United States, our farmers and the communities they support will be economically devastated,” the senators wrote. “Given that twenty percent 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.”

Despite USDA regulations identifying soil testing as the most effective tool to detect potato wart, it does not require testing of PEI fields prior to potatoes being cleared for export to the United States. In order to protect American crops and those who depend on them, the senators recommended the USDA take action to mitigate the potato wart risk associated with imports from PEI.

Additional cosigners of the letter include U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Hoeven (R-ND), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Michael Bennett (D-CO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Fetterman (D-PA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angus King (I-ME), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Jon Tester (D-MT).