NEWS10 ABC: Albany, New York News, Weather, SportsUSDA lifts restrictions on NY potato farms
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Potato farmers in upstate New York have reason to be cheerful. Regulators have lifted restrictions on 300,000 acres of farmland after growers eliminated a devastating potato pest.
State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine says farmers have adhered to a strict eradication strategy since the 1940s to eliminate the golden nematode, a very small but destructive worm.
The area removed from regulation by the state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture account for around a quarter of the restricted acreage in the state.
Farmers have been working to eliminate the destructive nematode through rigid crop rotation and equipment sanitation practices.
The presence and threat of spreading of golden nematode has posed a financial and agricultural burden for farmers throughout the state.
New York ranks 13th in the nation in potato production.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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