Maine committee hears urgent pleas to tighten rules after seed‑potato shipment from CRKN area

Sen. Rachel Talbert Ross (D) told the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry that LD 473 is meant to give Maine’s commissioner of agriculture clear authority to impose plant quarantines, inspect or seize suspect materials and use civil penalties when federal action is absent.

“Producers alerted us that a shipment of seed potatoes from Colorado — an area with a documented infestation of Columbia root‑knot nematode — had entered Maine before questions could be resolved,” Sen. Talbert Ross said. She warned that if the nematode were to become established here it could cause “hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue” and “long‑term soil damage.”

The bill sponsor and more than a dozen growers, processors and industry groups testified in favor of immediate statutory clarification. Bruce Fwelling, a processing grower who said he represents an ag council worth more than $95 million in preseason contracts, told the committee that the small volumes of seed at issue pose an outsized risk to Maine’s roughly $1 billion potato economy.

“Allowing seed potatoes to be imported from areas where these pests are known to exist creates a risk that far outweighs any short‑term benefit,” James Cody of McCain Foods testified. He said processors depend on a reliable supply of disease‑free Maine potatoes and that an invasive pest could disrupt certification programs and trade.

Several plant‑health witnesses told the committee that Columbia root‑knot nematode (CRKN) is difficult to detect at low densities and can persist in soil for decades, so prevention is the most effective approach. A plant pathologist working with the Maine Potato Board said asymptomatic tubers and low‑density soil populations limit the efficacy of random sampling and argued the state’s Chapter 30 quarantine rule needs updating.

State technical staff and industry witnesses said current surveillance and import processes include multiple safeguards. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) described the inspection of the contested shipment, the collection of suspect tubers, and follow‑up laboratory testing at the University of Maine that returned negative results for CRKN. DACF Director Craig Leine testified that the department supports protecting Maine agriculture but prefers data‑driven rulemaking and coordination through established interstate mechanisms such as the National Plant Board.

“Where possible, let farmers determine how they reach verifiable sanitation outcomes; when we have data, we will act,” Leine told the committee, urging updated rules but cautioning against unilateral emergency action without broader coordination.

Opposition witnesses from Colorado — including Andrew Hower, manager of the Colorado Seed Certification Service (Colorado State University), and Wra Gabru, Colorado’s state plant regulatory official — urged the committee not to take unilateral action. They said Colorado follows rigorous certification and shipping‑point inspection protocols, that certified seed lots are inspected and rejected if suspect, and that Colorado conducts targeted soil sampling for quarantine export requirements. Hower warned that the bill as drafted would harm U.S. seed trade and Maine growers who rely on unique varieties produced in Colorado.

Brandon Rocky, owner of Rocky Farms, told the committee he shipped the contested load, that import permits and North American health certificates were in place before shipping, and that the load was held and tested after DACF inspection raised initial concerns. “If I was shipping seed into your state that was infested with nematodes, I wouldn't still be doing this after 35 years,” Rocky said.

Committee members pressed both industry and DACF on surveillance limits, sample sizes and the extent to which state versus county designations should determine quarantine boundaries. Several legislators said growers want expedited statutory authority because the time lag to update rules can be long; DACF reiterated that the commissioner already has certain emergency authorities but recommended initiating rulemaking to ensure changes are data‑driven and coordinated nationally.

No formal vote on LD 473 occurred during the hearing. The committee scheduled follow‑up work‑session consideration and asked the department to provide additional information on existing inspection and testing protocols and on possible rule amendments that could address industry concerns while preserving interstate trade coordination.

What happens next: The committee will record additional technical questions for DACF and is expected to consider LD 473 again at a work session later in March. If the Legislature changes quarantine boundaries or enforcement authority, the department and affected trading partners would be involved in implementing the new protocols.