08/31/06 PCN regulation set

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture and USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service have come up with parallel regulatory plans that call for restrictions on the movement and handling of potatoes within a defined area near Shelley in Bingham and Bonneville counties. ISDA's Wayne Hoffman says there have been thousands of soil tests since April but only two fields had PCN. HOFFMAN "We need to take some steps to reassure our trade partners that we are in face clear of potato cyst nematode in other fields that are near the two affected fields." Potato growers with fields inside the area bounded by York, Park and Baseline roads and the Snake River should have their fields sampled for potato cyst nematode. HOFFMAN "And to do it as soon as they can. Once they've done that they'll be able to move their products with minimal restrictions. A delay in that process could complicate the movement of their products to market." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott