February 2024 - 19

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don't move contaminated seed, " he
said. " It does pop up. I think one of the
issues with Prince Edward Island is they
have such intensive potato production.
They've got very tight rotations. "
PEI also has a favorable climate for the
pathogen, which likes moderate rainfall,
warm summers and temperatures
around 64° F. The province's warm
season lasts from June 7-Sept. 19 with an
average daily high above 66° F, according
to weatherspark.com.
ECONOMIC STAKES
In May 2022, the U.S. shipped its first
fresh potatoes into Mexico, capping a 25year
fight to fully open that market. The
USDA continues to push for full market
access to Japan, where restrictions on
imports including table stock remain
in place.
Mexico is the top destination for
U.S. potato exports, with shipments
growing 43% year-over-year to $111
million in 2022-23. Quarles estimates
that full access to the Japanese market
could be worth another $150 million to
$200 million.
Such figures underscore the importance
of keeping potato wart out of the U.S.
" There are certain markets that we
want to sell into where the government
and the industry really do want to
protect their industry and keep us
out, " Quarles said. " If wart legitimately
showed up in a production area, it would
be a matter of hours before they threw
us out of their market.
" We've had to elbow our way in, and
they would be very happy to escort us
right on out if they had justification. "
The effects of potato wart would be
WilburEllisAgribusiness.com
felt within the U.S. as well, Quarles said.
" You would have states prohibiting the
movement, or even counties prohibiting
the movement, of potatoes from one
area to another, " he said. " You've got to
consider the job loss, all the economic
activity and then the cost to USDA and
the individual states in terms of disaster
relief and all of the various social benefits
that they would need to implement.
" It's just a staggering amount of money,
certainly in the billions of dollars. "
While acknowledging a zero
risk of disease transmission is not
attainable, Quarles said additional risk
A CFIA analysis of nearly 50,000 soil samples
from fields associated with 2021 detections
found potato wart in four additional fields.
management measures can be taken,
including quarantining fields where
potato wart has been detected.
" Since potatoes are the host material
for potato wart, it's pretty simple: If you
don't grow host material, you're not
going to have the ability to perpetuate
wart, " he said. " Clearly, there's got to be
a heck of a lot more testing that goes on
to make sure the disease isn't moving
around these adjacent fields - or they
call them associated fields. You have layers
of mitigation that would deal with those
unimpacted fields and let business go on. "
There are layers of politics involved as
well. U.S. Ambassador to Canada David
Cohen visited PEI in October 2023, and
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
said during a November 2023 meeting
with President Joe Biden that " there's
no scientific basis for the ban of table
potatoes, " according to CBC News.
" Whatever agreement was struck
between the two leaders, that clearly has
had an influence on what's happening
here, " Quarles said. " But just simply
looking the other way and allowing
product to move, when APHIS has
very clearly laid out that these are real
concerns - it's just not acceptable for
this industry. The amount of negative
impact would be gigantic. So absolutely,
we're frustrated. We think that reasonable
measures can be put in place that will
both allow PEI to have a thriving business
but will also protect the U.S.
" Just act. It's not that hard. "
Spudman.com 19
http://www.WilburEllisAgribusiness.com http://www.weatherspark.com http://www.Spudman.com
February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2024
