Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW MARCH/APRIL 2021 57 INTERNATIONAL NEWS New rules for Idaho potato eld quarantines USDA o cials have released a new plan to deal with a microscopic pest in south- eastern Idaho that threatens the state’s billion-dollar industry. The US Department of Agriculture released the final rule that took e†ect at the end of January. It sets out years-long criteria for killing o† the pests and reopening quarantined fields to production. The new rule follows a 2018 court decision in a lawsuit filed by potato farmers that found the US government illegally quarantined some Idaho potato fields infested with the pale cyst nematode first discovered in 2006. Farmers with quarantined fields aren’t allowed to sell potatoes grown in them. When the pests were first discovered, Canada, Mexico and Korea would not accept Idaho potatoes, and Japan banned all US potatoes. The countries ultimately lifted their bans, the latest coming late in 2017 when Japan opened its market again. Still, the nematodes are turning out to be di cult to eradicate. “To date, no infested fields have met the testing requirements to be fully deregulated,” the USDA said in its publication of the new rule. “At this stage in the eradication testing process, the fields remain regulated, with measures in place to mitigate the movement of soil o† the field until or unless three crops of potatoes have been grown on the field and no viable nematodes are detected following harvest of each crop.” According to www.khq.com ¸ Idaho led the nation in 2019 by producing just over 13 billion pounds of potatoes, according to the Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The agency said the state had about 308,000 acres in potato production in 2019, producing a crop valued at just over $1 billion Processing plant burns down A POTATO processing plant in the central Washington town of Warden burned down in an overnight fire. Warden is a town of nearly 3,000 people with surrounding crops irrigated by the Columbia River’s Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Project. The plant was one of two dehydrated potato processing plants in the state, used to dry potatoes too ugly, small or large to sell to consumers. The plant’s owner is Frank Tiegs, who farms thousands of acres across the Northwest and owns plants in the Tri-Cities, and major facilities in Oregon and Idaho. The Warden plant has come under previous scrutiny. In 2016, safety violations were reported and in 2017 it was the subject of an investigation into discrimination. In Washington potatoes account for a $7.4 billion economic impact and 36,000 jobs, according to the Washington Potato Commission. Packaging aids homeless A DETROIT activist has begun turning old potato chip bags into sleeping bags for the homeless. Environmental activist Eradajere Oleita recently revealed her project to US news website CNN. She said: “The process is simple: Collect bags, cut them open, iron them and then line with plastic.” The idea came from an online video of a woman in England who fashioned sleeping bags from empty snack pouches. POTATOES return to Taco Bell, the American-based chain of fast food restaurants, this month (March). Vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike have been missing the plant-based option at Taco Bell since the brand removed potatoes from the menu last year in an attempt to simplify. But this year, Taco Bell has committed to serving up more plant-based options, with Spicy Potato soft tacos fresco style or added potatoes on bean burritos now included as options.