The Idaho Seed Potato Law requires that all potatoes for planting purposes offered for sale or distribution into or within Idaho be inspected and certified. Certification agencies provide inspection and certification services in order to help ensure variety purity and health of the seed.

Certified seed potatoes are tested for major potato diseases, and have been selected to provide the best results with the highest yield potential. It’s pretty well known that potato plants can be plagued with many diseases – bacterial, viral and fungal – and some of these are passed on through potato tubers.

Michael Cooper, Agricultural Bureau Chief for the ISDA’s Division of Plant Industries says there’s another consideration for potato seed that involves generation number: “They also have a defined generation system so when the potato initially comes out of a greenhouse and then go into the ground they can count down the number of generations that they’ll allow because the more generations the potato’s in the field, the more likely it is to start picking up disease.”

Needless to say authorities in the potato state take potatoes seriously and that’s why there’s a law.