EEUU: Certified seed potato bill awaits Wisconsin governor’s signature

Tamas Houlihan with the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association tells Brownfield Senate Bill 164 increases penalties for not using certified seed and gives the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection additional authority. “It’s a little unusual to have an industry come to the legislature and say hey, we want to be regulated more heavily than we currently are. That’s rare, and so we did get some questions from some legislators like, ‘Do you really want to do this?’ and we said yes.”

Houlihan says Wisconsin has a very good certified seed program designed to help limit the spread of insects and diseases to help commercial growers reach the production goals they need.  He says the existing law needs the update to prevent regional crop damage from one infected field. “We increased the fine from $150 to $5,000 dollars (per incident and per acre) in the hopes that it will be a preventative measure, that it will just prevent the guys that are saying I dont care, I’m going to plant anyway, fine me the 150-bucks. We want to deter that.”

Along with increasing penalties to $5,000 per acre, Houlihan says the new proposal would also give the state’s ag department guidelines for granting waivers within geographical boundaries for using uncertified seed.