Potato seeds wanted

Commission using online network

By Matthew Weaver

Herald senior staff writer

Executive director says growers near 'panic' in shortage

COLUMBIA BASIN - With seed potato numbers declining after discovery of a pest in Alberta, the Washington State Potato Commission is asking growers to sell seeds online.

The commission is encouraging seed growers to post advertisements on the www.craigslist.org Web site, said Executive Director Chris Voigt.

"We're faced with a seed shortage this year," Voigt said.

The golden nematode pest was found in two seed fields in Alberta, Canada, from which the state gets about 30 percent of its seed.

"The border was closed to Alberta seed back in late October-early November, so essentially there's a good chance we've lost access to that seed," Voigt explained.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Canadian equivalent, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, are in the process of figuring out where the golden nematode is or could be, Voigt said.

"They know where it is in two fields, but they think it might be in other fields, but they can't look for it because the ground is frozen," he said. "So they're going to draw kind of a circle or a square around an area and say, 'Seed potatoes in that area can't move. They've got to stay.'"

Until the size of that area is determined, the commission doesn't know what's going to be off limits, Voigt said.

"We're hoping part of Alberta will be opened up prior to planting for us, but we don't know how big an area of Alberta," he said.

Seed supplies in the United States are "rather tight," Voigt said. Most potato producers have longstanding relationships with seed growers, he added. Now that they're not doing business with Alberta, the only alternative a grower has is to pick up every state-produced seed grower directory.

"So a grower has to literally go through this book and call every grower in the state to find out what variety they have, do they have any available for sale that's not spoken for?" Voigt said.

So the commission saw an opportunity to make things simpler for potato growers by encouraging seed growers from other states to post ads on Craigslist.

"Just to facilitate the matching of buyers and sellers," Voigt said. "We thought that was just a good way."

The commission considered creating its own Web site, but decided against the cost of setting one up and operating it, electing instead to utilize a free service like Craigslist.

Voigt said he had already begun to see several ads pop up on the sites.

Many potato growers in the state are concerned about the seed shortage, he noted.

"A lot of concern, almost on the verge of panic," he said. "Our growers have commitments to processors that they're going to plant so many acres of potatoes and now they're finding they don't have the seed to do it. I get calls on a daily basis from growers wanting updates on what's happening in Alberta but, more importantly, is it going to open up in time for planting?"

And Voigt's response?

"I'm saying we're going to know more next week," he said. "Canada has been slow in getting some of the basis information to (the department)."

The golden nematode has no human health concerns.

"It's just a little microscopic worm that attacks the roots of potato plants," Voigt said. "The only way it can be transmitted is through transfer of soil, so if you move soil from one field to another field, you'd be moving that nematode, or if you're using equipment in one field and you're not washing it off before you go to the next field, then you're transmitting the pest."

Moving seed potatoes in dirt with the nematode on the outside is another way to transport the golden nematode.

Voigt said the United States wants to know where the seed potatoes came from to plant in the fields in Alberta, whether equipment was shared and where seed produced in those fields went.

"That information hasn't been shared with USDA yet," he said.

Once Canada supplies the information, the department can determine where else the pest might be and prohibit exports from those impacted areas, Voigt said, noting it was hoped such a move would happen this week.

"If we can open up maybe half of Alberta, that would certainly be helpful in meeting our needs," he said.

The state is most affected in early processing varieties. There's a good supply of Russet Burbank potatoes, which is good news because it is stored the longest, but Voigt said a Shepody variety is in very short supply.

"We start harvesting potatoes just after July 4," he said. "That's the first one that gets harvested right after July 4. The next one is called the Ranger Russet, and that one is also in short supply. We typically start harvesting those in August."

Growers begin planting in late February to early March, Voigt added. Seeds typically have to be brought in before planting, put to a certain temperature and then cut into pieces.

"So typically they like to bring them in a month before they plant them," he said. "Kind of the end of January is the drop-dead date that we need seed."