Idaho potato growers can continue fighting quarantine

The pale cyst nematode’s infestation of some Idaho potato-growing soil has caused considerable legal activity. Eastern Idaho potato growers filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture to force the department to lift a ban on their potatoes from being sold in interstate commerce. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service enacted the quarantine after pale cyst nematodes were found in the soil of Eastern Idaho. The lawsuit to try and force the USDA to lift the quarantine was filed last year. The government agency tried to get a U.S. District Court judge to dismiss the case, but the judge ruled in favor of the farmers earlier this month so that the lawsuit can proceed and be tried in federal court. More