The detection of potato wart in PEI fields in 2021 closed the U.S. border. It reopened to fresh potatoes from PEI in April 2022. GROWING CONCERN PEI potato wart mitigation measures back in spotlight By Melinda Waldrop MANAGING EDITOR T he Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) recently announced risk management plans do not contain the urgency necessary to ensure that Prince Edward Island (PEI) potato wart stays out of the U.S., a leading advocacy group said. In December 2023, the CFIA announced plans to review and replace its current long-term risk management plan for potato wart as part of negotiations with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which prohibits the import of field-grown seed potatoes from PEI into the U.S. The timetable to complete that process doesn't satisfy Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council. " The latest chapter in this crisis happened in November of '21, so we're over two years since that happened, " Quarles told Spudman. " We're over a year and a half of having product moving into the U.S. That big clock is ticking, and we want to understand: When does it actually get to the point where something changes? " The U.S. border reopened to fresh potatoes in April 2022 after detection of PEI potato wart in 2021 completely closed the passage in November of that year. This led to the destruction of hundreds of millions of pounds of Perfect Potato Weather Alberta's climate offers perfect potato conditions all year round. From our long summer days and cool evenings to the chill of winter. Alberta Seed Potatoes are your best bet for a higher yielding potato crop. Ideal climate, great results. Check out our latest seed directory albertapotatoes.ca 16 Spudman * February 2024http://www.albertapotatoes.ca