January 2019 - 48

2018 ends with a new trade agreement
On Nov. 30,
NATIONAL
POTATO
COUNCIL
John Keeling
Executive Vice
President and CEO
2018, leaders of
the U.S., Mexico
and Canada jointly
signed a new free
trade deal intended
to update the current
North American Free
Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). During
the G20 meeting
in Buenos Aires,
presidents Trump
and Pena-Nieto,
along with Prime Minister Trudeau stood
together and announced their intention to
ask their legislatures to approve the new
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA).
Combined, the three countries represent
one of the most significant trading blocs in
the world. For potatoes, Canada and Mexico
represent the second and third largest export
markets with a combined value of over $575
million annually.
For such obvious reasons, the National
Potato Council has advised the administration
to modernize NAFTA but not give up its
benefits. The threat of losing duty-free
access to these key markets for potatoes
came with a very large price tag. " Mend
it, don't end it " was the beginning of every
conversation on how the administration
should deal with NAFTA.
Ultimately, the new agreement fulfills our
original goals. It maintains the zero duties
that were in place under NAFTA. Additionally,
it includes a new provision that makes it more
difficult for countries to illegitimately use pest
and disease issues as trade barriers. These
issues can lock an agricultural commodity
out of a market for years or even decades.
The potato industry knows this all too well, as
fresh access to Mexico has been restricted
for just this reason.
Two major issues will not be immediately
resolved by the new USMCA. First, the
retaliatory tariffs against U.S. frozen fries
won't be solved directly. Those tariffs were
imposed by Mexico in response to U.S. tariffs
on steel and aluminum. It is unlikely that the
Mexicans will remove them before the U.S
acts. We are urging the administration to do
that immediately.
Despite the strong provision on illegitimate
pest and disease claims, the new USMCA
won't immediately solve the issue of fresh
market access to Mexico. In that specific
instance, the Mexican government has taken
steps to allow the market to open but in
response their domestic industry has sued
the government to block that action. Those
cases must work their way through the
Mexican courts; we are urging that action to
occur rapidly.
All in all, the revised NAFTA is not a huge
departure from its predecessor, but it does
return stability to a trading relationship
that has been challenged over the past two
years. We believe that the new Congress
and the administration should rapidly
approve the USMCA, remove the steel and
aluminum tariffs impacting our frozen fry
exports and allow the potato industry to get
back to work.
CASTLE, ECHO RUSSET VARIETIES REACH GROWERS FOR FIELD TRIALS
INDUSTRY NEWS
Two new potatoes could save growers in
Oregon, Idaho and Washington millions of
dollars by curtailing several serious diseases
and improving processing quality.
The potatoes - Echo Russet and Castle
Russet - are in the hands of growers for
trials thanks to the breeding efforts of
Oregon State University and partners in the
Tri-State Potato Breeding Program.
In Hermiston, Sagar Sathuvalli, an
assistant professor of potato breeding and
genetics in OSU's College of Agriculture,
works to develop potatoes resistant to
diseases for an industry that was Oregon's
sixth highest producing agricultural
commodity in 2016 at $187 million.
Sathuvalli said Castle Russet was bred
mainly for disease resistance, while breeding
work on Echo Russet focused on high-yield,
good agronomic performance and good
processing qualities. Most of the Oregon crop
heads to processors.
Both Castle Russet and Echo Russet
show tolerance to diseases that include
potato mop-top virus, which is spread by the
problematic powdery scab fungus, according
to Sathuvalli. They also are tolerant to soft
rot and somewhat to verticillium wilt.
Echo Russet is noted for requiring less
fertilizer, reducing the need for it by 30 to
40 percent - only 250 parts of nitrogen per
acre instead of 400.
The Castle Russet variety is also resistant
to all strains of PVY and corky ring spot,
which is caused by tobacco rattle virus
and vectored by stubby root nematodes.
Resistance to diseases allows growers to use
less fumigant, an important consideration as
farmers deal with increasing restrictions.
Castle Russet also has the ability to
cleanse a field infested with stubby root
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nematodes carrying tobacco rattle virus.
" That means you have a good crop to
sell, and it cleanses the field to grow other
crops, " he said.
Getting to the point of releasing a new
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potato is a long process, Sathuvalli said.
From the time breeding begins to when
the potatoes are approved for release, it
usually takes 12 to 15 years of exacting
field trials.
48
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January 2019

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