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The Potato Association of America 107th Annual Business Meeting July 23, 2023, 1:30– 3:30 pm MT Delta Prince Edward Island Ash Room

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Appendices

Appendix 1- President Report- Jeff Miller- July 23, 2023

2022–2023 President’s Report

I have appreciated the opportunity to serve as the President of the PAA this past year. Some of the efforts I have been involved in this past year include:

  • Working with sections encouraging an increase in journal article submissions to AJPR. One specific result of this is that Dr. Roy Navarre has agreed to work with John Lundeen at Potatoes USA to develop at least two review articles highlighting the work Potatoes USA has done through APRE. The review articles will focus on studies in cardiometabolic health, healthy dietary patterns, and healthy lifestyles.

  • Communicating with Springer with respect to the AJPR contract renewal. An ad hoc committee was formed to meet with Springer to discuss the contract renewal for AJPR. I appreciate the work of Dennis Halterman, Helen Tai, and Samuel Essah in communicating with the staff at Springer. More work is needed to finish this process, but a proposal has been made by Springer with terms that are mostly favorable to the PAA. A counterproposal with some modifications will be proposed to Springer following this meeting.

  • Reviewing the Standing Rules documents and completing revisions to the bylaws.

  • Working with Debbie Eisele at Spudman magazine to procure articles from the PAA. Articles were submitted on the graduate student competition, HLM recipients, insecticide resistance, and the use of cover crops. Spudman asked the PAA to sign an exclusivity contract. The contract was revised to remove restrictions Spudman was asking to place on the material published in those articles.

  • Helping Ryan Barrett and his LAC in procuring sponsorships for the annual meeting. I also worked with Dezarae Taylor in signing contracts related to the 2023 and 2024 annual meetings.

  • Working with Jake Blauer and Bret Nedrow in determining how to move forward with a new young faculty award/graduate student scholarship.

  • Participating in the transition with AMR from Angela Richardsen to Doug Snitgen to Michael Fraley.

  • Communicating with Sagar Sathuvalli and AMR to help with arrangements for the 2024 annual PAA meeting in Portland, OR.

  • Participating in 2023 Potato Expo in Denver, CO. I attempted to recruit new Sustaining Members who were present at the trade show.

  • Soliciting reviews of the PAA website. I would like to continue to work on improving the PAA website as I transition to the past-president role.

  • Reviewing responsibilities for financial form filing with AMR.

  • Arranging two President’s Service Awards for the 2023 annual meeting. Thanks to Dennis Halterman for pushing these candidates forward!

  • Working with Vera Moore to make it easier for transacting business in Canada. This involved the creation of a Canadian bank account and options to accept credit card payments from Canada.

It was a privilege for me to work with Helen Tai, Dennis Halterman, the Board of Directors, and the staff at AMR. I would like to thank them for all their hard work to keep the PAA growing and thriving.

Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

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Mission: The Potato Association of America shall collect and disseminate scientific information relating to all phases of the potato industry, including, but not limited to, teaching, research, outreach, breeding, certification, production, pests, transportation, processing, and marketing and utilization.

Membership

  • 2023 Memberships: 441 Members

  • Update AJPR Publications Mailing List as Needed

  • Provide support as needed to members with questions.

Board

  • Posted board documents to BoD Resources.

  • Provide BoD Meeting recording to Darrin for minutes.

Marketing/Communications

  • Update “Meet the PAA” on website/social media.

  • Announcements: June 9 and 23

  • Travel Awards: status update emails.

  • Add jobs to announcements and website.

  • All invoices have been complete for the conference.

Social Media

  • Facebook Friends: 754

  • Twitter Followers: 1,125

  • Instagram Followers: 1621

  • LinkedIn Followers: 201

Annual Meeting -PEI

  • Confirm rooms, menu and run of show.

  • Answered registrant questions.

  • Secondary Education Student verifications.

  • Issue sponsorship invoices/collect logos.

  • Organize weekly activities report.

  • Abstracts submissions: 157

    Extend hotel rooms with Delta and Holman-completed.

  • Request weekly pick-up report for overflow hotels.

Annual Meeting -Portland

  • Logo Completed for 2024 conference, still needs work.

  • Nines contracted signed for Annual Meeting, and down payment complete.

Respectfully Submitted,

Michael Fraley

Executive Director

06/30/2023

Appendix 4 Editor‑in‑Chief’s Report (AJPR) – 2023

  1. 1.

    Impact Factor (IF) of AJPR

    2019 IF = 0.858; 2020 IF = 1.697; 2021 IF = 2.230; 2022 = 1.5

    I would like to mention that many journals saw a decline this year. However, we need to commission special issues and other articles such as reviews, opinion papers or commentaries to boost our IF. Special issues contribute in a positive way to the impact factor.

  2. 2.

    Article Downloads

    2020 = 109,585; 2021 = 125,542; 2022 = 126,820

    This indicates a high level of interest in AJPR for researchers in the potato community.

  3. 3.

    Manuscript Acceptance, Rejection, and Withdrawal Rates

    Acceptance rate: 2020 = 47%; 2021 = 47%; 2022 = 48%

    Rejection rate: 2020 = 38%; 2021 = 37%; 2022 = 37%

    Withdrawal rate: 2020 = 15%; 2021 = 15%; 2022 = 14%

    Acceptance, rejection, and withdrawal rates have been sturdy so far.

  4. 4.

    Average days to first decision

    2020 = 79 days; 2021 = 57 days; 2022 = 59 days

    Senior editors continue to do a good job. Need to reduce the days to first decision.

  5. 5.

    Average days to final disposition

    Accepted: 2020 = 185 days; 2021 = 105 days; 2022 = 166 days

    Rejected: 2020 = 79 days; 2021 = 66 days; 2022 = 49 days

    The number of days to final rejection continue to improve, which is a good thing. However, we need to strive to improve on the turnaround time for final acceptance, which will entice authors to submit articles to AJPR.

  6. 6.

    Submission of Manuscripts to AJPR

    2020 = 82 articles submitted; 2021 = 77 articles submitted; 2022 = 58 articles submitted

    Submission of articles to AJPR continue to decline. This is likely due in part to the mandatory publication fees. Competitor journals are not charging such mandatory fees.

  7. 7.

    Number of Published Articles

    2021 = 42; 2022 = 40

Appendix 5 Section Reports

Breeding and Genetics Section Minutes

  • Introduction and Agenda Overview from Max Feldman

  • PAA Promotional Video

    • Dennis Halterman had suggested this idea last year

    • Easy to do, include photos, write a script

    • Helen Tai suggested a piecemeal approach where many groups contribute short video segments which could be combined into a longer video

    • Dennis Halterman will start a google drive for video submissions

  • American Journal of Potato Research (AJPR)

    • Submissions are lower than previous years

    • The contract with Springer Publishing has been renewed

    • Suggestions to increase the number of submissions:

      • Dennis Halterman suggested a phase-out of fees related to the number of pages, which may be a factor in the decrease in submissions

    • Max Feldman pointed out that Invited Reviews are free to publish with AJPR

      • Max Feldman suggested that “big data in potato breeding” may be a useful topic for a review

      • Max Feldman expressed his intent to write a review on “high-throughput phenotyping in potato breeding”

      • Rich Novy suggested that soil health may be a good topic for a review

      • A review of the genetic marker panels available to support potato breeding was another review suggested

    • Potato Research (the journal of the European Association for Potato Research) has not seen a drop in submissions similar to as was observed by AJPR

      • Jeff Endelman questioned if two scientific research journals are necessary

    • It was noted that it was challenging to find reviewers for the AJPR

      • It was suggested to increase post-doc participation as AJPR reviewers

      • It was noted that the review process for AJPR is too slow

      • Helen Tai suggested that the PAA directory may be a good source to find reviewers for AJPR

        • It was suggested that the PAA directory may not be a good source to find reviewers because the PAA directory does not include information about the specialty and expertise of PAA members

        • John Bamberg noted that AJPR requires three suggested reviewers as part of the manuscript submission. He suggested that increasing this to five suggested reviewers may make finding reviewers easier

  • Genetic marker panels available to potato breeders/geneticists

    • Jeff Endelman informed the group that a version 2 of the DArt Tag marker panel from Intertek will be available soon

      • Jeff Endelman informed the group that pricing for the DArt Tag marker panel will be $12 per sample, as per an agreement with the Excellence in Breeding (EiB) group

      • Jeff Endelman informed the group that sample submission for the DArt Tag marker panel must be freeze dried tissue (either 1 tuber core or 4 leaf discs)

      • Jeff Endelman updated the group that a publication for the DArt Tag marker panel was delayed due to a collaborator, but he has assumed responsibility for this manuscript, which will be written soon

      • Other updates: The output for the DArt Tag V2 marker panel will be in.vcf format and a Random-Forest imputation algorithm will be used

    • Jeff Endelman informed the group of the FlexSeq marker panel provided by Rapid Genomics, which was recently acquired by LGC Genomics

      • The FlexSeq marker panel uses a probe-based, targeted sequencing approach for genotyping

      • In initial trials, approximately 22,000 markers performed well out of the 27,000 markers which were designed

      • The development process for this marker panel took longer than expected, and researchers who had initially sent samples are unlikely to receive this data before the 2023 harvest season

      • Jeff Endelman expressed his hope that the FlexSeq marker panel will include specific markers (eg late blight resistance markers) which were unsuccessfully designed into the DArt Tag marker panel

      • Jeff Endelman estimates that the cost of the FlexSeq panel will be $50/sample, but that price is not yet finalized

  • The Breeding Insight group is expanding to include the Tri-State Potato Breeding Program

    • Easy compatibility between this group and the Breed Base data management platform

    • Other members discussed using medius.re as a database management platform

      • Jessica Chitwood-Brown uses medius.re and likes how easy it is to produce tables, share data, and input data with a phone.

        • However, cost of medius.re is based on how much server space is needed. This makes medius.re cost-prohibitive to include SNP data<div class="NodiCopyInline">However, cost of medius.re is based on how much server space is needed. This makes medius.re cost-prohibitive to include SNP data</div>

    • Laura Shannon emphasized that any of these platforms work best when breeders use shared ontology

  • Jessica Chitwood-Brown was nominated by Han Tan to serve as secretary for the breeding and genetics group at the 2024 PAA. Seconded by Laura Shannon. Accepted with unanimous consent

  • Adjourned

Extension Production and Management Section Meeting-2023 PAA Annual Meeting

July 25th, 2023

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Present: Amber Walker, Luke Thurgood, Andy Robinson, Mike Thornton, Nate McBride, Jeff Miller, Mike Larsen, George Bird, Tina Brandt, Troy Meacham, Ryan Barrett, Greg Porter, Jay Hao, Gary Secor, Carl Rosen, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, Mark Pavek, Raju Ahmed, Kasia Duellman, Gustavo Teixeira, Kevin MacIsaac, Brian Charlton, Samuel Essah, Lincoln Zotarelli, Bob Leiby

Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:32 am.

Amber agreed to take minutes.

Introductions (who members are and where they’re from)

The agenda was amended to include 2025 meeting locations and 2023 symposium feedback. Ryan approved the amended agenda, Arlene seconded.

Last year’s section minutes were approved with a motion by Mike, second by Jeff.

A discussion was had to solicit symposium feedback. Comments included how wonderful the UK speaker was, that the subject was very timely, and that the panel discussion was very nice and interesting.

Jeff Miller shared that the image library response was very tepid. He asks that any website comments/suggestions be sent to him. He also shared that Springer renews this year and the ongoing discussion between the PAA BoD and Springer regarding page charges.

Area Reports:

PEI: Started dry, good ground. 150–175% rainfall since. 90% of crop looks great, last planted has issues(setting/seed rot). On track to a decent crop, worry about late blight as first spores were detected this week. Around 82,000 acres planted.

Maine: Similar to PEI. Concern about Canadian wildfire smoke. Good stand, no big disease yet but spore traps just found LB spores. Good crop, approximately 53,000 acres.

Manitoba: Dry. Planting delayed about a week, then a month with no rain. Emergence issues but crop bounced back.

Michigan: Wet start then dry. First LB detect last week. Shared that there’s a group of ~ 175 people who are involved in a weekly agronomic crops conference call in the state to share conditions/insights.

Wisconsin: Dry with small downpour cells. No major diseases yet. Crop looks good although concern about the wildfire smoke/weather is there.

Minnesota/North Dakota: Similar to WI. Dry with alternating cells of downpour/hail. Early reds are being harvested this week. Crop looks good. Heavy CPB pressure early but seems to be under control now. Comment that Black Gold Farms has been working with Greenlight Biosciences and have been very impressed with their products to control CPB. North Dakota was a week to ten days late planting. Dry. Very good crop. Aphids normal. Smoke around every ten days from Canada. Planted acres were similar to previous years.

Florida: Plants around 1/15. Crop grew well, well above average yield. No real disease, exceptional year (based on Black Gold in North Florida on sandy soil).

Texas: None.

Colorado: Cool/wet spring. Late start with blackleg and seed decay. Cool June with a chance of frost, then hot/dry, now average. Crop is about a week behind.

Idaho: Up around 11% in acres (might be up up to 20%). Newer varieties are showing up (i.e. Caribou). Started cold and wet, then moderate, now 100F + for two weeks. Early crop went in late and hasn’t really caught up (7–10 days behind). Currently average yield with above average quality predicted. June frost in some seed production areas. Lots of volunteers. Seeing growth crack in Burbank, phytotoxicity or drift possible? Speckling observed on Clearwater foliage.

Oregon: Southern Oregon/Northern California good spring then cold. Getting hot. Three fires this week. Above average snowfall (150–175%) gave more water available for irrigation.

Washington: Western Washington was dry. Basin cold then warm in June. Early row closure. Few days over 100. No smoke and low disease pressure. Crop looks good with increased acreage and good early yields.

A special issues AJPR format was discussed with a request for review papers.

PAA memberships are similar to prior years and we’ve picked up a few new sustaining members.

Ryan asked the group to consider offering to host 2025 and beyond. It was suggested that Wisconsin consider hosting. Also mentioned were Hawaii, Florida, and Alberta.

Samuel nominated Andy Robinson for secretary, Mike seconded motion, Amber closed nominations. Unanimous approval.

Meeting adjourned at 8:18 am with a motion by Ryan and a second by Arlene.

PAA Plant Protection Section Meeting

July 24, 2023

Chair: Julie Pasche

Vice Chair: Darin Gibson

Secretary: Luke Thurgood

Attendance: Luke Thurgood, Julie Pasche, Darin Gibson, Andrei Alyokhin, Rick Peters, Louse-Marie Dandurand, Silvia Rondon, Gary Secor, Russ Groves, Ken Frost, David DeKoeyer, Jonathan Whitworth, Greg Donald, Tyler MacKenzie, Mathuresh Sing, Bill McGuire, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, Chad Hutchinson, Shane Hansen, Matthew Pereyra, Emma Terris, Guiping Yan, Rory MacLellan, Paul Collins, Daman Korzer, Ryan Barrett, Bryan Swingle, Jeff Miller, Kasia Duellman, Pamela J.S. Hutchinson, Jim Steffel, Tracy Shinners Carnelley, Darin Gibson, Vikram Bisht

Meeting Called to order by Julie Pasche

Approve Minutes for 2022: Motion made by Rick Peters, seconded by Gary Secor and was unanimously passed to approve minutes for July 18, 2022 Plant Protection Section meeting.

Presentation was given by Mary Kay Sonier: Potato Wart Detections in PEI

Announcements:

  • Suggestions for improving article submissions for the AJPR?

    • No suggestions

  • Image library update-Jeff Miller

    • No update

  • “Topic Specific” videos to complement the PAA video – Jeff Miller, Darin Gibson, Jamie Wilbur, Julie Pasche, and Kasia Duellman.

    • No update

  • Early career update from Jeff Miller

    • No update

  • PAA website: Jeff Miller

    • Extend an invitation to all members to submit suggestions as you find issues

2024 Symposium: Vector-borne Pathogens

  • Chairs: Andrei Alyokhin, Silvia Rondon, and Jeff Miller

    • Plan to follow-up among chairs and to communicate to board

  • Speaker suggestions: TBD

  • Other related discussion:

    • Integrated weed science mini-symposium (Pam Hutchinson and Gary Secor)

      • Pam to follow-up with Gary and submit a proposal

Other Business: none

Officer nominations for 2023:

Harlene Hatterman-Valenti was nominated by Jeff Miller and seconded by Kasia Duellman. A unanimous vote was taken in favor of Harlene becoming the new secretary.

Adjourn: Jeff Miller made motion to adjourn and was seconded by Vikram Bisht. Unanimous vote to close the meeting.

Physiology Section meeting – 2023 PAA Charlottetown, PEI- July 25, 2023

– minutes recorded by James Busse (secretary).

A list for attendance was circulated and is documented at the end of these minutes.

Jacob Blauer (vice-chair) called the meeting to order at 4:03PM. Section chair Carrie Wohleb could not attend the meeting.

Darrin Haagenson motioned to approve the minutes from the 2022 PAA Physiology Section meeting in Missoula, MT. Motioned was seconded by Sastry Jayanty and passed unanimously.

A motion was made to accept the agenda for this meeting, seconded and was passed unanimously.

Carrie Wohleb proposed bylaw changes and these changes were emailed to Section members prior to 2023 PAA meeting.

Gustavo Teixeira motioned to strike from the bylaws Sect. "Submission of Manuscripts to AJPR"b, “Nominations for the Executive Committee shall be submitted by a Nominating Committee consisting of three members appointed by the Chair of the Section. The Nominating Committee shall submit a slate of nominations for the Executive Committee members at the time of the next Annual Meeting of the Potato Association of America.” Motion was seconded by Darrin Haagenson and passed unanimously.

Paul Bethke made a motion to modify bylaws Sect. "Submission of Manuscripts to AJPR"c which currently reads, “Motion Nominations from the floor are acceptable, and in the event that more than one nomination is made for any position, an election by secret ballot of the members will be held at the Annual Meeting of the Section.” Paul’s modifications would change Sect. "Submission of Manuscripts to AJPR"c to read, Nominations may be made in advance to the chair or from the floor, and in the event that more than one nomination is made for any position, a public vote will be held for sustaining nominations by section members at the Annual Meeting of the Section. In the event of a request from members, an anonymous ballot may be used in place of the public vote. “Kent McCue seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

A video from the Physiology section was discussed. The target audience was discussed, and it was agreed that a short, five minute or less, video would be produced with information about the importance of physiology research and the mission and goals of the Physiology Section. This information is intended to attract a new generation of potato physiology researchers. Darrin Haagenson is will to contact the larger physiology group to collect information specific areas of research. Please consider how you would answer with one or two sentences about what the Physiology Section does. Ideas brought up by Munevver Dogramaci and Paul Bethke included prevent/minimize postharvest loses in storage, abiotic stress and metabolism. Additionally, making a word map to use in the video was discussed.

Kent McCue volunteered to lead the video production team. Other career members of the team include Munevver Dogramaci and Gustavo Teixeira. Student representatives to support messaging focus will be Jake Meeuwsen and Connor Buckley.

There was a review and discussion about removing page charges from the American Journal of Potato Research. Updates from the broader PAA executive committee on this topic was shared with the group. This included a call for review articles as well as submission of peer reviewed articles. Jacob Blauer motioned that the new section secretary should send out a call for papers twice per year especially encouraging graduate students to submit review articles. Munevver Dogramaci seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Nominations for 2024 leadership:

Jacob Blauer moves from vice-chair to Physiology Section chair.

James Busse moves from secretary to vice-chair.

Sastry Jayanty nominated Graham Ellis for the secretary position with a second by Kent McCue. Graham Ellis declined the nomination.

Munevver Dogramaci nominated Gustavo Teixeira for the secretary position with a second by Luke Thurgood. The vote electing Gustavo Teixeira was unanimous.

Munevver Dogramaci will remain on the board of directors for a second year. Graham Ellis was nominated for the board of directors by Kent McCue with a second by Munevver Dogramaci. The vote electing Graham Ellis to the board was unanimous.

A motion was made to close the meeting, seconded and was passed unanimously.

Potato Association of America, Certification Section Meeting

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Time (Eastern Standard Time)

Vice – Chair: Alan Westra

8:30 Welcome and Introductions Eric Byre, Alan Westra

Attendance:

Jeannie Tapley – Maine Potato Board

Andrew Plant – Maine Potato Board

Tami Brown – Oregon State Certification

Kasia Duellman – University of Idaho

Nina Zidack – Montana Seed Potato Certification

Stacey Bajema – Potato Growers of Alberta

Mary Kay Sonier – PEI Potato Board

Josie Spurgeon – Wisconsin Seed

Brooke Babler – Wisconsin Seed

Jenn Dillinger – Nebraska

Eric Hitchcock – Maine

Adam Winchester – Nebraska

Eric Byre – Minnesota

Andrew Altishin – Oregon

Don Flannery – Maine Potato Board

Dominic LaJoie – Maine Grower

Jeff Shawcroft – Colorado

Andrew Houser – Colorado

Mike Wenkel – NPC

J. Kevin Nickel – Saskatchewan

Kelly Turner – Michigan Potato Board

Damen Kurzer – Michigan seed

Michelle Leckler – Colorado

Gordon Henry – CFIA

Christopher Dunbar – CFIA

Kent Sather – North Dakota

Online:

Joe Coombs – Michigan State University

Peter Joyce – Potatoes USA

Matshuresh Singh – New Bruswick, CA

Guest Presentation and Discussion: Noelle Anglin: Future of Potato Breeding (2022–2122)

Explained concepts of diploid breeding, developing true seed varieties, opportunities and challenges, and CRISPR. Also presented future opportunities in AI and robotics to increase efficiency, reduce risk, precision agriculture, reduce repetitive jobs, quick decision making, cloud seeding to overcome megadrought, and moderate hurricanes. Negatives could be technology information overload, high costs of machines and software, machines can’t think out of box, eliminates jobs, youth addicted to tools, and machines can be in hands of wrong people.

Joe Coombs: It takes 4–6 generations of selfing to get a stable homozygous inbred. In Michigan, they are working to get varieties with commercially valuable traits. MI doesn’t see diploids as a short-term viable solution. Any variety developed has to be superior to current varieties. Will bring some diploid and tetraploid potatoes to EXPO. Would eventually culture with conventional potato practices: tissue culture, clonal propagation of tubers. There could be questions of uniformity.

Dormant Tuber Testing Update Nina Zidack

Discussion on complications in field grow outs that have resulted in winter test losses for North Dakota (water logged fields in Florida) and Minnesota (PHT samples froze in transit to Hawaii). They need to determine what information other agencies need as a substitute for the field grow out.

Maine – lost sample, put statement on health certificate that in case of PHT failure, revert back to summer readings.

PEI – Do sprout and greenhouse leaf test – accept PCR and ELISA as equivalent to field grow out.

Saskatchewan – most growers have gone to dormant tuber testing.

New Brunswick—do mostly sprout and dormant tuber test 500 seed lots, 250 for leafroll.

Test 200 for 16 hectares, anything over is an additional 20 tubers/hectare. Use conventional and RT PCR. Use simplex or duplex depending on requirements.

Alberta – do all types of testing, winter grow out still valuable to catch herbicide injury. Even if only catch one lot in 20 years.

US – Adam Winchester will ask Angela to set up monthly meeting to discuss postharvest test options.

Gordon Henry – These discussions are relevant to the US Virus Management Plan.

PEI – first dormant tuber tests – composites underestimated PVY. Went back to doing sprouts and greenhouse.

Andrew Plant, Maine – delivery of results needs to be fair. PLRV needs to be considered.

Stacey Bajema, Alberta – dormant testing is used for growers that need early results from export.

Mathuresh Singh, NB – comparative studies – good correlation of techniques. Sampling is very important. Can duplex PVY and PMTV.

Gordon Henry, Canada – as long as everyone has an understanding of the assays and capabilities, should be accepted.

10:15 BREAK

10:30 PCN US Survey Update Lynn Evans-Goldner

Showed maps of management areas as of April 2022. In Idaho there were 6568 regulated acres. 3542 acres infested within an 8.5 mile radius. Located in Bonneville and Bingham Counties. There are some associated fields outside of that boundary.

New York 90,307 regulated as of Oct 20, 2022. Portions of 8 counties regulated. 5945 acres infested. Since 2012 have removed 1.2 million acres from regulation. Some of fields have been converted to other uses or to development.

National Survey. No positive detections to date outside Idaho and New York. In 2023 APHIS providing funding for PCN surveys in Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Other states can get samples processed free at Idaho and New York labs. Suspects are confirmed at USDA APHIS PPQ Plant pathogen confirmatory diagnostic lab in Laurel, Maryland (formerly Beltsville).

APHIS reviewed 2019 US Potato Industry Management Plan for Potato Viruses that cause tuber necrosis. Supplied to Canada 2021. CFIA is currently reviewing and has recently supplied comments. The 2004 bilateral virus management plan remains in effect.

Mary Kay Sonier – Is PCN testing for export included in the survey work? Lynn Evans-Goldner said it can be and depends on the state.

10:45 PCN Canada Survey Update Gordon Henry

23,210 total hectares of potatoes in 2022. PCN surveillance driven by exports to US. 10,224 samples submitted for export. NFL regulated, 42 samples– no movement of potatoes off of NFL. PCN was not detected in 2022 in any of the samples in Charlottetown lab. Working on deregulation of land. Currently no host plants allowed to be planted on regulated land. Reviewing Sect. 8 for trade – change 3 year crop holiday to a 4 crop year exemption.

Potato Wart – National soil sampling program 2021 – regulatory work in PEI and NFL. Also visual inspection. Value in doing cull pile and end product inspections. PEI – export sampling dependent on foreign markets – demand driven. Regulatory sampling. Investigation, five-year bioassays of past index fields. Not prevalent in seed industry. NFL—1 sample positive in 2022. 44,346 samples in last 2 years representing over 31,033 acres.

Mary Kay Sonier– 85–90% of acreage under crop insurance program. They inspect 60–80 pound sample for every 10 acres of production (ungraded product).

Once you find potato wart, field is classified as index field. Map out associated fields that present risk. Risk level depends on pathway of how the field is associated – ie cull tubers vs. machinery.

Fields are classified as A,B,C and D fields.

October 1, 2021 1 field on processing farm. 69.4 acre field related to 2012 investigation. No potatoes left the island > 10 years. No potatoes exported. February 2022 1 field 19.8 acres. July 2022 69.2 acre field found on the same farm.

October 14, 2021 262 acre field found 7 km away. This field was under surveillance for management plan because it had been previously classified as an associated field.

Information on domestic potato wart Ministerial Order found at / https://inspection.canada.ca/plant-health/invasive-species/domestic-plant-protection-measures/potato-wart-order/eng/1637345349606/1637345350810

Soil sampling survey—1353 samples in 2022. Seed potato farms selected in each production region in Canada. 36 producers in 2021 and 44 in 2022. Farms selected by CFIA – farms interested in export.

Potato Wart Independent International Panel. 5 panelists from oversees. USDA APHIS observer. Experts from N Ireland, Netherlands, Germany and New Zealand.

Program recommendation and pest free area options for PEI. Visited PEI in August 2022. Report of recommendations in process.

CFIA Potato Wart Working Group on management plan. Reviewing the current domestic management plan (2009) version looking to modernize the plan. 19 government and industry members.

Lynn Goldner – Pest risk analysis under review and public comment period.

Mary Kay Sonier – 2 representatives from APHIS have visited PEI farms and processing plants to view processes for pest management plan.

Kelly Turner – asked about what happened when USDA witnessed Wart in PEI. Gordon – panel was there when indexed field was being harvested. Affected tubers were destroyed through incineration. Potatoes that passed inspection were processed. Wet material and organic material are disposed of in specialized quarantine area. Recycle water for cleaning potatoes. Ultimately disposed of. Have optical grading system. Operates under a compliance agreement with CFIA. European group was surprised at how affective this approach was.

When potato wart is found, no potato production for 5 years. Bioassays performed and can plant after 5 years if none found. Have to plant resistant varieties. Assessed by CFIA for 20 years.

CFIA will have new management plan by next year.

There will be no seed movement for recertification until new management plan is developed.

UNECE Report, Nina Zidack. UNECE Specialized Section on the Standardization of Potatoes has not met in-person since 2019. Online meetings have been underway to revise the Seed Potato Standard. The Seed Potato Standard provides uniform tolerances that can be used to establish a certification program, or for export, as a frame of reference. The newest publication by the committee give specific instruction on how the Standard can be used in capacity building to develop a certification program in countries that are producing seed potatoes without a program. A survey on sample size for postharvest sampling was distributed and results will be returned to the delegate in Germany who is collecting the results.

Report on Annual PAA Meeting

Nina Zidack reported that the summer 2022 meeting went very well, but it is unfortunate that no other seed certification colleagues were present. The incoming president Dennis Halterman indicated that it will be a priority going forward to have occasional PAA meetings during times of year when Certification folks can attend.

Gordon Henry and Mary Kay Sonier reported that the 2023 meeting will be held in PEI July 23–27. Calls for abstracts are out until March 31, 23. Registration opens in mid-Dec. Symposium on Soil Health featuring speakers working on soil health in potato rotations from the USA, UK and Canada, and including a grower panel.

1:45 Herbicide Damage Survey Adam Winchester

Herbicide damage brought up at previous meetings. Certification committee decided it would be a good topic for this meeting. Problem because herbicide damage can carry over to next crop. Increasing use of systemic herbicides in increasing, and some states have reported an increase in incidence of herbicide damage. Dicamba, clopyralid have caused problems.

Does your state have tolerances for herbicide damage.

89% no, 11% yes. Herbicide damage issues are managed on a case-by-case basis.

What type of scoring does your state use for herbicide damage?

Percentage 43%

Trace to Severe and percentage 22%,

Trace to Severe 11%,

Present or not Present 22%

Is damage from herbicide a growing concern in your State?

Somewhat 14%,

no 20%

66% yes

How many lots in your state have been rejected for herbicide damage in the last five years?

 >  + 4, 14%

1–3 40%

0 56%.

Questions: year of application or carryover?

What class of herbicides cause the most damage in your state:

Not determined 33%

photosynthesis inhibitors 0%

ALS inhibitors (Rimsulfuron) 17%

Amino acid synthesis inhibitors 56%

PGR (Dicamba, 2,4-D, Clopyralid, Banvel, etc.) 50%

Has your state ever used a chemical laboratory to ascertain herbicide damage?

Yes 33%, no 67%

Montana and North Dakota both said suspect fields are sampled by State Inspector to be sent to lab.

CFIA – Survey on fruits and vegetables – for consumption not seed. Mos

67% determined on a case-by-case basis

33% determined by percentage in winter test

What is required for a lot to be rejected for herbicide damage in your state?

Determined on a case-by case basis 67%

Determined by percentage in winter test 33%

What is the most common cause of herbicide damage in your state?

Applicator erro14%

improper crop rotation 29%

Seed borne/carryover 71%

Drift 71%

Most herbicide damage is either caused by drift or seed-borne.

Mike Wenkel – Mentioned program called drift watch. Specialty Crop growers can enter field parameters to applicators for when they are applying herbicides to adjacent fields. Enroll fields in drift watch.

Necrotic Virus Management Plan.

Gordon Henry: Lynn and Lisa asked them to review 2019 Management Plan.

Comments: Depends on context, regulatory, certification, bilateral agreement.

Mary Ann Sonier: if you amend virus management plan, your MOU will need to be changed and it affects what is required for Canada to meet requirements.

Chris Dunbar: 2004 version was based on introduction of PVY-N. 2012, dockage seed in trade drove development of new document. Processors should implement standards for dockage.

Gordon Henry: if it gets passed in US, states will have to change regulations to meet virus management plan. Requirement for field growout or acceptance of tuber testing is a gray area. If enforced as a certification activity, it needs to black and white.

Would like a meeting with APHIS to determine if it is going in right direction. Hoping to have more of a conversation with certification agencies. In Canada, internal review of health certificate. What is it for, how is it populated. The content of the document should be what goes on health certificate. Need interpretation guide. Could be in annex. If it becomes a replacement for 2004, it could take longer. If it becomes an addendum to MOU, it would just be US policy.

Andy Robinson: Herbicide effects on seed potatoes (Zoom from Hawaii)

Herbicide movement from foliar contact – go to strongest sink. ALS inhibitors, growth regulators and EPSP synthase inhibitors. Edge affects from drift, tank contamination, volatilization, misapplication, contaminated water. Exposure to foliage, typically damages leaves but can translocate to tuers. Contact only affects leaves it touches. Stress from herbicide exposure can cause tuber cracking, malformations, and slowed growth.

Symptom for PGR develop quick, glyphosate and ALS inhibitors are slow. NDSU poster on herbicide injury on potatoes. Available electronically. Dicamba Elephant hide, smaller tubers, malformed and cracked tubers, deeper eyes. Dicamba seed – slow emergence, twisted, bent stems, leaves often crinkled, twisted, cupped and malformed. Seedborne is random plants in field. Glyphosate tubers – smaller, irregularly shaped that have folds, cracks, knobs and elephant hide. Sometimes no symptoms. Late exposure, no symptoms but may pick up problems in winter test. Erratic and slow emergence, bending twisting and yellowing of leaves, multiple stems from an eye, cauliflower or candelabra formation of stems, enlarged stems.

Mimics for tuber cracking – env stress, nutritional imbalance, disease and genetics, results of high turgor pressure, growth cracks.

Laboratory analysis quick but expensive. Grow out – takes time – visual symptoms – educated guess.

Sampling procedure. Document, sample chain of custody (for litigation), clean sample, ship to laboratory.

Scoring injury: based on eye of beholder, symptoms vary by environment, chemical rate, timing of evaluation, location of herbicide. Laboratory analysis = no correlation, late season – no injury symptoms. There are examples of injury ratings, but not sure how valuable they are.

Are winter tests a good metric? Depends on sample – often injury is in a limited area, differences in bin. Winter test evaluation – dig up seed tubers, verify herbicide injury. Sample areas that are suspect and do additional winter test.

Tolerances and lawsuits: can herbicide injury be noted without a certification tolerance being established? Can certification language be based on foliar observations at field inspection and winter tests? What to do in cases when no injury was observed, but seed has herbicide residues?

Kasia Duellman – include a healthy plant with an injured plant for analysis.

Andy Robinson – should test both foliage and tubers – uses SGS in Brookings, SD. Has lowest detection limits.

Lynn Evans-Goldner – how common is the use of herbicide safeners? Andy responded that safeners are used to reduce drift, especially with volatile herbicides.

3:00 PAA Business Meeting

Chair Eric Byre

Order2:35 Gordon Henry

2021 Minutes Nina Zidack

Kent Sather—motion moved to accept, Eric Maine second

Treasurer Report Kent Sather

Under umbrella of PAA certification: Food at meeting only expense, Oct 31 2021, 29,026.85 increase was 2075.18. 31,202.03 as of October 31, 2022. Outstanding due from past years. Change of management, confusion over PAA fees or certification section dues. Dues for 2022 crop will be sent out after this meeting. Eric Maine, Jenn from Nebraska reviewed budget.

Eric Maine, Jenn Nebraska second.

Adam – could PAA funds be used to support workshop in Wisconsin?

Nina – support symposium if PAA has meeting when certification can attend?

Adam – Motion to allocate $5,000 for Montana and Wisconsin for workshop. Eric Hitchcock 2nd. Passed.

Acreage Report Andrew Houser

Andrew – Thanked Michelle Loekler for compiling reports. Michelle has been promoted to assistant manager. New state – Arizona submitted 1507 acres. Minnesota increased 16%. US acreage ffffffff108.554 acres, up 6% over 2 years. PEI acreage dropped 20%. Acreage for CA 57,352 down from 60,562 in 2021. Russet Burbank still dominant variety in both us and Canada. Clearwater now #6 in US. Ranger Russet in top 5 for both countries. Frito Lay total selections #3 in US. Canada does not list FL acreage.

Adam accept, Brook 2nd

Agency Reports Group

OR – similar acreage 3082 acres. Dropping growers down to 10 because of water. Another might drop out water. One field downgraded for VM. No virus rejections. CW Russet top variety. Greenhouse is ½ planted.

WI Acreage down 2%. Top varieties are proprietary, Lamoka and Atlantic also high. Average yields and good early harvest. Crop storing very well. Only two lots down-classed.

Maine – growing season started with large rain events early June – some delays in planting. Acreage down a5% from previous year. Summer growing conditions idea. Certified from 80 farms Caribou, Atlantic, Russet Burbank (MT strain), Waneta, Lamoka.

ND – 5% decrease in acreage. 1/3 processing, 1/3 shippers, 1/3 reds. Reduction in reds, Dakota Russet accepted for processing so processing varieties increased. Big decrease in Bannock Russet. Wet Cold spring, Summer OK, harvest dry, dryland red varieties performed well – exceeded storage. Irrigated acres less than average yields. Mosaic resulted in 120 acres of rejections. Result of not having a winter test last year. Will do Dickeya testing for customers. Have not detected Dickeya yet. Lost PHT in Florida due to heavy rain.

CA – BRR – no detections in 2022. Elaborate in\

Alberta – acreage flat. Great start to season for tuber set, weather in August resulted in reduced yield. Seed is short in Alberta. Southern part of province had cool start to season. PHT planted in Hawaii. Doing leaf and strain testing in PHT this year.

PEI – Acreage down – largest seed market is local for fresh and processing, PHT underway – PCR testing, greenhouse growout will be leaf tested early December. No PLRV since neonics, good PHT last year, more green peach aphids this year so see how that translates into PHT.

Saskatchewan – 3 new growers in 2022. 2 new seed growers next year. 2020 Provincial Government investing for 500,000 acres under irrigation by 2023. 200,000 increase in acres in last 2 years. Don’t know what types of crops will be planted. Companies use Sask for early generation. More commercial acres coming in. Good growing season. Like growing in a desert – add 16″ in irrigation.

NE – 7500 acres, 5% increase and increasing last 10 years. Russet Norkotah most popular varieties after Frito Lay. Cold wet spring, summer hot and dry. Some of Eastern growers experienced poor sets. Western growers had high yields that exceeded storage. No PVY detected in field or lab. PHT in Hawaii planted Nov 4–6. Participating in smoke trial with U of I as dormancy breaking. No more bin inspections for BRR. Moving to lab testing.

CO – San Luis Valley growing area. Warm dry spring, cool summer. Growers that didn’t pre-irrigate had struggles keeping up with irrigation. Acres up, approved acres 7800. Acres rejected due to PVY, VM and blackleg. Yields were average to below average, PHT in Hawaii for all lots. Reveille Russet increasing in popularity, need to keep isolation due to PVY susceptibility. Any seed coming in to CO has to go through 3 week late blight quarantine test. Has to be done before seed can be shipped. Require PVY – N test if PVY is higher than 1%. Total PVY-N cannot be more than 1%.

MI – s2535 acres. 74% chipping varieties. Increasing Makinaw. Spring favorable, finished early. No precipitation in July non-irrigated – decreased yields. Harvest stop and go with hot and wet conditions. Completed PCN testing for Canada. Low virus, no Dickeya.

MN – 8843 acres. Certified 6500 acres. Some acres severe mosaic and variety mix. Cool wet spring, slow start. Good growing conditions with good rainfall. Dry late summer early September – difficult for harvest. Good yields and quality. Potatoes frozen on way to Hawaii so no PHT.

Lynn – Dickeya protocol posted on USDA website. Wondering if there are any updates.

Brooke said there are some things that could be changed. Amy Charkowski and Gary Secor could also be consulted.

Adam – moved to accept agency report, Mary Ann second.

Other Updates.

  • Agency Contact List Jeff McMorran

Tina will update after meeting with any changes.

  • General Agency Survey Jeff McMorran

  • Regulations Summary Michelle Leckler

  • North American Certified Seed Potato Health Certificate Brooke Babler

No updates to NPPHC.

Post-Harvest survey Adam Winchester

Very few changes. Should add more questions about dormant tuber testing. Question about what a state would accept if state loses PHT.

  • PAA certification section web page Mia Kirk

Currently maintained by AMR. Kent suggested everyone go to PAA website to make sure your information for state or province is accurate. If you see changes needed contact Mia and Angela. Eric MN said to send directories to Angela.

  • Latent virus list Jeff McMorran

Montana added Mountain Gem.

  • Limited Generation Table Alan Westra

Alan emailed table – no changes. Have Alan change “revised date” to “approved date”.

  • Certification Fees – annual billing Kent Sather

Kent said will be coming soon.

Elections Gordon Henry

Vacancies in 1st and 2nd year positions.

Nina – Nominate Tami Brown for 1st Year Kent 2nd (passed)

Chris is replacing Gordon Henry as 2nd year and will move to vice-chair

Tami – nominate Brooke, Damon 2nd

Kasia – nominated Adam Winchester—Treasurer, Gordon 2nd (passed)

Summer Meeting Gordon Henry

Date & Times of next winter meeting Gordon Henry

Discussions will continue with Canada to see if joint meetings will resume.

Gordon will discuss with David Jones.

Other Business Gordon Henry

Nina – Nominate Kent Sather for Honorary Life Membership, seconded by Eric Byre.

Adjourn Kent motion, Adam 2nd (passed)

Bylaws committee: The PAA Bylaws were reviewed and updated to incorporate changes. Major modifications included changing the maximum number of HLM awardees in a given year from four to six, and removal of Article VI, Sect. "Number of Published Articles" which stated that Board proceedings must align with Robert’s Rules. Minor changes corrected grammar and modified language to remove gender identification. All Bylaws changes were approved by a general membership vote on 11 May 2023.

Membership committee: General PAA membership numbers remained fairly steady in 2023 with a total of 441 members. The committee recommended providing opportunities for first-time annual meeting attendees to interact with senior members, resulting in the availability of “First Time Attendee” ribbons so that members could welcome them to the annual meeting.

Promotion/Communication/Marketing committee: The PAA remains active on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/LinkedIn) and followers are continually increasing. The committee tested a “lab of the month” spotlight to highlight our members with a plan to further promote this opportunity over the next year. Sales of PAA-branded promotional items through Printify and Shopify have been lackluster and in the future will only be offered through preordering and pickup at the annual meetings.

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The Potato Association of America 107th Annual Business Meeting July 23, 2023, 1:30– 3:30 pm MT Delta Prince Edward Island Ash Room. Am. J. Potato Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-024-09943-9

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